# Can't Stick to Self-Imposed Schedules?



## Shawn (Apr 10, 2010)

So when you think SJ you think someone who likes to follow patterns for how things are done. They should be done in specific, predictable ways. For me at least, that includes having a daily schedule. One of the reasons I found school so easy to survive in was because it had a regular schedule that was rarely altered, and if it were we were told literally weeks or months in advance.

Knowing that I work best by following a schedule, I've devised a weekly one for myself. But I can't follow it for more than a few days at a time. After those 2-3 days I get hopelessly side-tracked, distracted, start procrastinating and don't go back to the schedule until I've frustrated myself, which usually happens weeks later. I'm in that state of procrastinating and time wasting and I've missed a few due dates for college assignments (I take online college classes, which I do from home) and other things that I try to do on a regular basis.

I can imagine a few reasons why I do this:
*After repeatedly doing something for an extended period of time, I lose focus as to why I'm even doing it.
*Too many distractions and interruptions.
*I have terrible self-discipline.
*Lack of incentives/motivations.
*I work, but my weekly work schedule is very variable and thus throws my schedule into chaos because I'll be there longer than usual some days and shorter than usual other days and instead of getting straight to what needs to be done I procrastinate or skip school stuff altogether.

Ugh. Help?


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## dagnytaggart (Jun 6, 2010)

@Shawn

Are you sure you're an ISTJ? Those sound like typical IxxP gripes. 

(except for ISTPs, they almost always have their shyeeet together...


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## spacefem (Apr 7, 2011)

I feel like if I have trouble following a schedule, something is wrong with the schedule! Same with my house... if it's cluttery, that means I just haven't found an organized system for the clutter, not that I'm lazy.

So what was your schedule like? If it was "wake up and study for three hours first thing every day", well, that's not very fun, that's gonna be tough to stick to. I used to do things like "study for 20 minutes, then do dishes" so I could take breaks and move around. Sure, there are some tasks I can focus on for hours, but self-driven schoolwork isn't one of them.


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## LotusBlossom (Apr 2, 2011)

I don't see a problem here.


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## CallSignOWL (Jan 11, 2010)

Shawn said:


> So when you think SJ you think someone who likes to follow patterns for how things are done. They should be done in specific, predictable ways. For me at least, that includes having a daily schedule. One of the reasons I found school so easy to survive in was because it had a regular schedule that was rarely altered, and if it were we were told literally weeks or months in advance.
> 
> Knowing that I work best by following a schedule, I've devised a weekly one for myself. But I can't follow it for more than a few days at a time. After those 2-3 days I get hopelessly side-tracked, distracted, start procrastinating and don't go back to the schedule until I've frustrated myself, which usually happens weeks later. I'm in that state of procrastinating and time wasting and I've missed a few due dates for college assignments (I take online college classes, which I do from home) and other things that I try to do on a regular basis.
> 
> ...



Im going through the exact same thing right now. This weekends was supposed to be the one where I kicked some butt and actually did a bit of my German project...but here it is at 5pm Sunday night and the farthest I got was printing off the instructions. Maybe it has to do about us liking the assignment? I just don't want to work on it at all! But I know I have to and I berate myself for it.


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