The Unschedule

Overview

The Unschedule is a time-planning method developed by Dr. Neil Fiore in his book "The Now Habit" to help people overcome procrastination through a reverse-psychology approach to scheduling.

How It Works

Instead of scheduling time for work you're procrastinating on, you first schedule:

• Fixed commitments: Sleep, meals, commute, showering
• Self-care activities: Exercise, meditation, yoga
• Guilt-free play: Hobbies, meeting friends, socializing, reading (including at least one hour of play a day and one full day off per week)

In the reverse-psychology of The Unschedule, you're not even allowed to schedule time for that thing you've been procrastinating until you've first blocked out time for Guilt-Free Play.

Key Principles

• Start with just 30 minutes: The Unschedule asks you to aim at starting for no more than thirty minutes. By committing to start working for just thirty minutes each day, you can begin a program that turns you from a procrastinator to a producer.

• Record work after completion: You only fill in work time AFTER you've completed at least 30 minutes of productive work, creating a visual record of achievement.

• Mandatory play time: Schedule and stick to recreational time and limit work activity at first to predetermined periods.

The Psychology Behind It

Our usual habit is to schedule work time and leave play unstructured. By requiring you to schedule and stick to recreational time and limit work activity at first, the Unschedule builds up a subconscious desire to work more and play less.

Procrastination is a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision, according to Dr. Fiore.

Benefits

• Reduces anxiety around work
• Makes starting work less intimidating
• Guarantees guilt-free leisure time
• Creates positive association with work through achievement tracking
• Prevents burnout by enforcing breaks

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