Are you bad in following schedules?

[PumpkinMayCare]

When it comes to certain things, like socializing, I'm not very spontaneous. I have it scheduled. I also have a schedule of when I study and when I do fun stuff. Playtime comes after work/studying most of the time but there are days when I just... don't do what I should do because I feel like I need to recharge. I'd say schedules aren't my enemies, they actually help me shine in a lot of ways. I would not call myself the greatest fan of all time though.

 

[Korvinagor]

It's not the following schedules part that's tough - it's the commitment you need to put beforehand that's the problem. As in: do I want to follow a schedule now?

Making them can be a bit difficult as well. Helps a lot if you decide beforehand what you want to achieve for the day. Get into the right mindset.

 

[Coriolis]

Like you just prefer to do things spontaneously and thinking that you have a schedule in a specific day drags you down like you feel it's too much? Sort of feelings?

Is that a perceiver problem?

Bad you just end up doing it anyways.. But you prefer to do things spontaneously?

I am very good at following schedules, at least when I choose to follow them. This happens most often when I have made up the schedule myself. I sometimes allow time for spontaneity, as in: when I am done with this activity, I will do whatever I feel like doing for the rest of the day.

Making them can be a bit difficult as well. Helps a lot if you decide beforehand what you want to achieve for the day. Get into the right mindset.

Of course there is no substitute for having goals and planning. But then I find it easy to make schedules. Others sometimes find, though, that they are too full/demanding. I rarely have trouble getting through them, though. Everything usually works out.

 

[á´…eparted]

Schedules are everything to me. I am a very scheduled person. I am never late either. I used to be massively uptight about it, but I have somewhat loosened over the years.

 

[cascadeco]

I don't make schedules (I don't really want the sort of lifestyle where a schedule is a necessity; I'm not a busy person), thus don't have a need to follow them. However I have no issues with deadlines, I have no issues with time management/ being on time (and can get annoyed with people who don't have any awareness or respect for others in this capacity), and if I make a plan with someone, I stick to it -- unless I become sick or something like that.

 

[Yama]

I don't feel the need to schedule all of my time down to the last detail. I like to just have a general outline that both gives me 'goals' to check off my list while also giving me some freedom/room to improvise. Basic example: deciding to get lunch with someone and hang out. I just want to know what time they want me to pick them up and when I need to get them home. I don't care where we're going to eat. That's something that's better to decide in the moment, based on what you're hungry for. I do like to have a general idea of what we're going to do when we hang out, like "play video games" or "watch a movie," but what games/movie/etc is less important.

 

[Dreamer]

I dont mind schedules if they push me to do things- if I WANT to follow them and they arent air tight.

I dont like feeling FORCED to do something so if the schedule is too strict or I feel I have less input then Id like then keep it as far from me as possible please.

Usually I like doing what I want to do when I want to do it. I CAN sometimes work in a loose schedule but its... not genrrally a preference.

I prescribe to this view of scheduling the most. It's almost as if the "schedule" is this being that is trying to control and limit me, and that kind of freaks me out. Generally, I prefer to think on the fly. For me, the structure of life comes not from having schedules or to-do lists, but having the internal tools necessary to take on most things life throws at you. So, a personal tool set that includes having a resiliency to be able to bounce back and to remain flexible, an ability to be able to quickly weigh options and make quick decisions, and for a brief moment, if the time calls for it, make decisions on more objective gains and outcomes, but usually I'm more wishy washy, "oh I kinda want this, or I kinda want that".

 

[Zeego]

INTP here, and yes I do have a lot of difficulty following schedules. That's one reason why I decided I wasn't a Rational type in Socionics.

 

[kotoshinohaisha]

INTP here, and yes I do have a lot of difficulty following schedules. That's one reason why I decided I wasn't a Rational type in Socionics.

I think it comes whether you're a perceiver or a judger..

Because judger types or Te or Si probably is good at following schedules

 

[Tellenbach]

I don't have schedules. I try to keep my life simple so that schedules aren't needed. Ok, I do try to have regular bowel movements in the morning, but that's about it.

 

[Larix]

I tend to only put up with schedules if they're essential for coordinating people. Like deciding who is doing what and by what time, when people all agree to meet to do something, etc., etc. I like schedules as a way of keeping people on the same page to minimize conflict and stress. Otherwise, I hate them. Especially if I had no say in them. I'll abide by a schedule if other people expect me to- (barely). And not gonna lie, if someone is being overly literal and autocratic with a schedule, I can be very passive-aggressive about it and disrupt the tight perfection of the person's schedule to show them how ridiculous, confining, and often dehumanizing it can be- especially if no one likes it but the person in charge lording it over them. I don't tend to be too destructive- just enough to make my point- so that even if I go back to following it, they know where I stand.

For myself, I do just enough to meet my commitments, to be on time and to contribute my piece. But then when I'm off the clock, it's complete spontaneity. Since I have a good sense of time, I tend to just fluidly estimate how long each task will take, and "paint" that time in between the scheduled blocks of time I owe to other people. I can't get enough creative projects done if I stick to a schedule. I do crappy work that way because I can only be artistically productive when I can psych myself into it. Otherwise, I can't even get myself to start.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I am very good at following schedules that I create for myself, and I actually need to self-generated schedule to get anything done. I even have to coordinate phone calls with friends ahead of time, because I often find it too difficult to drop everything and talk if someone calls me unexpectedly.

But I am only good at following schedules when I create them (or participate in their creation). I am super bad at following schedules that are imposed on me from without, especially if I am expected to follow things to the letter and it seems arbitrary to me. If there's too much of it going on, then I actually stop being able to function at all.

I am also super bad at spontaneity imposed on me from external sources. To me, that's the worst. Expecting me to drop everything and abruptly change focus when I am hyper-focused on something else is the best way to guarantee I'll do a shit job on everything I'm expected to do. It isn't as bad if I half expect the spontaneous imposition - but I also often find it difficult to focus in situation where I half expect an spontaneous interruption.

Internally generated spontaneity though (which kinda isn't really spontaneity, maybe, because it requires an internal seed of some sort being already planted and taking root somehow) is easy and sometimes necessary for me to be at my best game. If I don't have freedom to change at last minute sometimes (if I'm just not in the headspace needed for that particular task - whether it's job related or social), then I can walk through the motions but I'm liable to be too distracted to be really engaged.

 

[biohazard]

I hate having a schedule. I think a lot of it is because I enjoy change and not having constrictions on my time. I'm also a Ni subtype in Socionics so I'm sure that has something to do with it.

 

[OrangeAppled]

I need a loose schedule or a loose plan or else I won't get anything done, especially long-term. I am resistant to repetition, which is basically what a schedule is, because it is boring, but I recognize that it is necessary for making progress yet not burning out. When it comes to getting good at a skill, for example, you often have to practice it. I hate that, but it's just reality.

My natural work style is to do intense, perhaps prolonged bursts of working on something that leave me wiped out afterwards. I do much higher quality output this way. Schedules and consistency kill my creativity because I cannot summon it on a schedule. This leads to a lot of goofing off and half-hearted effort as I wait until I feel, er, inspired.

I am the kind of person who would prefer to ignore nearly everything for long periods (including stuff like sleeping and eating) while I work on something I am excited about or interested in, followed by a long period of recovery and not doing much of anything. This is not really spontaneous mentally as I am preferring to NOT be interrupted with a series of regular tasks. I will take breaks and spontaneously do thing unrelated to my focus, but it is not often pre-planned. Interrupting myself is fine then, but I don't like others interrupting me so much; I suspect this is common to introverts.

Anyhow, I have lived that way for a year here and there and it's very chaotic. I don't have any regular eating or sleeping schedule. I can lose touch with people and time. But I feel very energized. I don't find myself so discontent with the present.

My problem with planning ahead is not that I can't do it, but that I don't feel happy with it even if all goes as planned. I feel like I am checking off a list and not enjoying anything. If it doesn't go as planned, then I get irritated. Having loose structure or general ideas and then improvising as I go is not only more enjoyable, but I often am more satisfied with the results. Pulling something off is better to me than finishing a to-do list.

I am also a creature of habit, despite all that. Most of my habits are bad, but I recognize that schedules are good habits, ones which often anchor me to reality and force me to look after physical needs.

I can relate to not liking certain surprises or randomness or deviation from plans. People just showing up, constantly rescheduling or cancelling, and not thoroughly exploring an idea (feels dismissive or shallow) can annoy me. I prefer other people to be more consistent than me. It's like I can be spontaneous or less structured when people around me are more stable.

 

[chubber]

Have you tried a garden?

 

[Flâneuse]

I like making detailed schedules and plans...unfortunately when it comes down to it I hate actually following them for more a few days at a time. When I start following a new schedule, I'm initially excited and energized by it, enjoy the structure and productivity it gives me, and look forward to all the stuff I think I'm going to accomplish more quickly than usual by following the schedule...then I start feeling tied-down and want the freedom to follow my whims again.

Instead of following a rigid schedule, in the long run I've found it's better and more realistic for me to break up long tasks (mainly schoolwork) into pieces and set hard deadlines for each piece to keep me from screwing myself over by procrastinating too much, while still giving myself some flexibility in deciding exactly when and in what order to get things done.

 

[Sacrophagus]

I have almost everything planned a month ahead, at least.
Other I'm hexed or blessed with an internal clock. Tick tock. I always deliver according to deadlines, unless I want to prove to myself how much I can mess with authority and get away with it.

On a personal interrelationship level, I dislike not showing up on time, unless you have a really concrete reason. Something unexpected happened, traffic, or a loved one in distress, let me know, I will even come and assist you with every means necessary. Otherwise, if you're late out of indolence, bad hair day, freshening up for hours, or daydreaming about how the meeting is going to unfold instead of actually attending it, I will immediately leave without notice. Don't assume I'm mad or angry at you for being late, nor requiring a solemn written apology. You will just cease to be someone I make plans with.

 

[Red Memories]

I tend to plan plan plan but never keep my plans.

it is like planning things I never do is an awkward hobby.

 

[VILLANELLE]

I'm pretty bad at following schedules. I kind of... plan to do things, and then don't do them. Usually out of anxiety?

But see, then, there's workout schedules.. I'm good at following those when I get into the groove of things. So I guess really, it's just certain things. If I make plans with someone, I certainly expect them to happen, and if they get cancelled, while I'm understanding, it's always a bummer.

 

[Novella]

My working life is highly regimented and heavily audited so during down time I rebel and plan/schedule very little - I look at is as 'balance' . Drive my INTJ husband nuts. He prefers that I be less pedantic in my working life so that I have a reserve of energy to adhere to a more routine home life. I try but so far find it greatly challenging to release the reins at work so that I am able to maintain more of an equilibrium between the two. Saying that I appreciate that I am able to alternate between SJ and NP.