Summary

The website content discusses the necessity and implications of detailed versus minimal timetables in managing one's life and work, emphasizing the importance of enjoying one's activities to reduce the need for strict scheduling.

Abstract

The article reflects on the author's personal experience with timetables during school years and extends the discussion to their relevance in adult life. It argues that while timetables are essential for balancing responsibilities and interests, an overly detailed schedule may indicate a lack of passion or freedom in one's activities. The author suggests that a minimal timetable is preferable, as it allows for flexibility and enjoyment, and posits that loving one's field of work reduces the need for micromanagement. The article also offers strategies for transitioning from a detailed to a minimal timetable, including self-analysis, prioritization, and techniques like catharsis and refinement of the inner child to foster a love for one's work.

Opinions

The author believes that a timetable serves as an external force to compel one to engage in less favored tasks, which is necessary in a school setting where all subjects are equally weighted.
In real life, the absence of a timetable can lead to neglecting important but uninteresting tasks, highlighting the necessity of a timetable for managing various life demands.
A highly detailed timetable may be required for those who do not love their field of work, as it compensates for the lack of intrinsic motivation.
The author suggests that individuals who are passionate about their work, like Shyam with mathematics and science, do not require a detailed timetable and can thrive with a minimal one.
The article emphasizes the importance of self-reflection to identify reasons for a lack of freedom or interest in one's work and proposes changing one's field or mindset to cultivate enjoyment and reduce reliance on detailed scheduling.
The author advocates for techniques such as catharsis and refinement of the inner child as methods to transform one's perspective from needing a detailed timetable to embracing a minimal one, leading to increased happiness and freedom.

A Detailed Versus Minimal Timetable

What does it tell about us?

Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash

During my school days, I used to chalk out a timetable to study. It was necessary as there were many subjects that I didn’t like and in the normal course of time, I would not touch them. It was because I created a timetable and forced myself to adhere to it, that I was able to give focus on all subjects and get good marks.

In a way, the timetable created an external force that would push me to do things that I didn’t like. It was essential at that time as the school system gave equal emphasis to all subjects and one needs to be good at all of them in order to excel in school.

Absence of timetable

“In the absence of a timetable, one would keep doing things that one likes and keep aside other things that he is not interested in.”

Is there anything wrong with this? In an ideal world that’s how things should be. One should only do things that one finds interesting.

“Practical life is different from an ideal life”

In real life, there are things one needs to do that may not interest him. There are various demands put forth by the family, society, and the company for which one works, that the person has to fulfill. The absence of a timetable may hinder the person in achieving all these demands.

The level of detail in the timetable

In practical life, a timetable is essential for the smooth functioning of life but what should be the level of detail in the timetable.

“Do we need to have a very detailed timetable where every hour is taken into account or can we manage life with a less detailed timetable?”

If the level of detail is quite high in the timetable, then it means we do not have an adequate amount of freedom in our life. When there are a lot of things that we need to cater to, is when we require a very detailed timetable.

Example: Ram is a manager in a company and is required to manage around 20 people. Ram does micromanagement and hence does not find time for himself. The level of freedom in his life is less. He chalks out a detailed timetable and has meetings with all 20 people separately every week.

Without a detailed timetable, Ram would need to be a highly anxious person and would not be able to accomplish his task the way he wants. The detailed timetable caters to his needs but if really wants to be happy then he should take a step back and analyze whether what he is doing is worthwhile or not.

A highly detailed timetable also implies that we are in a field that is not our first love. If we really love the field then we will accomplish more than what others expect us to do. We really do not need a detailed timetable.

Example: Sara is a high school student whose first love is literature but because of the pressure from her family she is preparing for the engineering entrance examination. Since science and mathematics is not her first love, she chalks out a detailed timetable accounting for every hour of her waking life.

This detailed timetable pushes her to study various chapters of science and mathematics. This approach may even get her admission to a decent college. But relying on a detailed timetable does give an indication that she requires external force in order to study. In an ideal case, love for the subjects should be the guiding force for her to study.

Another Example: Shyam is a high school student who loves science and mathematics. Given free time, he would still solve mathematics problems. Hence for Shyam, there is no need for a detailed timetable.

Shyam can have a minimal timetable accounting for things to study in a day. He need not account for every hour in the timetable. This gives him enough leeway to enjoy his life along with preparation.

A minimal timetable is just required for Shyam so that he gives equal emphasis to all subjects. His need for an external force to keep him focused on preparation is very less.

How to transform from having a detailed timetable to a minimal timetable?

Whenever we see us creating a detailed timetable, we need to ask few questions:

Do we have enough freedom in our life?
Do we love what we do for the majority part of our life?

If we do not have enough freedom in our life then we need to rethink our priorities and way of working. We cannot keep ourselves under stress every day of our life. An analysis is required to understand what causes us to have less freedom and take bold steps in order to achieve it.

Example: In the earlier example, Ram did micromanagement of 20 subordinates, caused him to have less freedom in his life. Thus, Ram did an analysis of the reasoning behind his lack of freedom and came to the conclusion that he should not do micromanagement. He should trust his subordinates and give them an adequate amount of freedom. This would not only improve their productivity but also there will not be 1:1 meetings required every week. Thus, Ram will transform from having a detailed timetable to a minimal timetable.

In case we do not love what we do for the majority portion of our life, again some changes need to be brought about. A comparatively easy decision to take is that of leaving the earlier field and getting involved with the field that interests us. But this may not always be practical. Sometimes we need to find out the reasons for our lack of interest in the field and change our subconscious programming so that we start loving the field. Catharsis and refinement of the inner child are two approaches that I use to transform my hatred towards a field into that of love. Details of these two topics have been explained in the below articles:

Does an empty mind make you feel restless?

Keep refining your inner child.

Conclusion

To a certain extent, having a timetable is essential to fulfilling the duties that may or may not be of interest to us. These duties are required for the smooth running of life. But when we need a detailed timetable to force us to carry on things in our life, we then need to really do some analysis. Do we have enough freedom in our life and do we really enjoy doing things that we do for the majority portion of our daily life? If the answer is no to any one of them then changes need to be brought about in the way we function. Sometimes we may even need to change our field and if that is not practical then we should employ the technique of catharsis and refinement of the inner child to remove hatred for the field and start enjoying them. Taking these steps will ensure that we will move from having a detailed timetable to that of having a minimal timetable and be more free and happy.