The 3 Types of Schedulers
In my experience, there are 3 types of “schedulers” — people who use schedules in some form.
There’s The Super Scheduler. That’s the person who fills up every moment of their schedule with specific tasks to do at specific times. I find that this type of person emerges when their calendar is susceptible to being commandeered with meetings created by others and that whatever time they have left over needs to be meticulously allocated. There’s nothing inherently wrong with The Super Scheduler, but they run the risk of dealing with anxiety when they aren’t able to accomplish everything they set out to do during those specific times. If that happens too often, they have a nagging feeling of being behind more often. That’s not good.
The second type of scheduler is The Slight Scheduler. This person only uses their schedule for meetings and appointments, saving tasks for their to do list only. They follow the rules set out in such methodologies as Getting Things Done, where the schedule is only meant for date and time specific dealings. There’s nothing inherently wrong with being The Slight Scheduler as long as they do an exceptional job of keeping their calendar and to do list balanced. They need to keep on top of their to do list and have a good sense of knowing how much time and energy it’ll take to get tasks done. But The Slight Scheduler has less of a framework to work with than The Super Scheduler (far less, in fact) so without a framework to fall back on or work with, they run the risk of having anxiety and overwhelm rear their ugly heads as well. Without discipline and willpower as their constant allies, they won’t be able to get as much done as they want as often as they want.
The third type is The Semi-Scheduler. This person uses things like the calendar to create a framework of sorts — a simple and flexible one at that. They give their days definition — and even give blocks of time during days an overarching focus. That way they can drop tasks into those blocks of time without getting overly specific. This goes for days on their own as well, meaning they can work on types of tasks on those days during the in between moments that occur between any meetings or appointments they may have. The Semi-Scheduler needs to find and maintain their “just right” when it comes to their relationship with their calendar and their to do list, which is not a one and done proposition. That can be a problem unless The Semi-Scheduler understands and — better still — embraces it.
No matter what type of scheduler you are, it’s important to know the positives and negatives of each. And while I consider myself to be an example of The Semi-Scheduler, I’m not suggesting it is the best type to be.
I am suggesting, however, that you figure out what type of scheduler you are so that you can be the best of that type that you can be.
