Why I live a calendar-free lifestyle 📆🚫
🔋 Match my energy levels
🫥 Incomplete information
🥇 Priorities change
⚡️ Allows for spontaneity
🚦 Breaks my flow
🧐 Serves as a social filter
📞 Difficult to schedule calls
🌸 Live in the moment
🔋 Energy levels
Sometimes I'm in the zone and get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. Other times I feel unfocused and I'd rather socialize or hit the gym.
Being able to decide in the moment how to spend my time, let's me optimize for my current energy level.
👆 The same applies to whichever person I'd be scheduling something with.
Even if I'm in the right mood for a call/meeting/whatever, that doesn't mean the other person is too.
If possible, I prefer to do it asynchronously so each person can optimize for their own energy levels.
⏰ I'm bad at time management
This is a personal flaw that I've come to accept. I'm bad at time estimations which means I'm often late or, if I do my best not to be late, way too early.
Most practical solution is to avoid these situations altogether.
🚦 Scheduled appointments break my flow
As Charles Dickens put it "…the mere consciousness of an engagement will sometimes worry a whole day."
See @paulg's essay "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
🫥 Acting on incomplete information
Scheduling, which is a form of planning, by definition means you're making a decision with the limited information you have right now, about the future.
Holding off on scheduling, means you'll have more complete data.
🥇 Priorities change
Related to the above. As new information comes to light or my values change, so will my priorities. As might yours.
🧠 It's easy to trick yourself
Studies have shown people are more likely to agree to something they don't really want to do if it's planned far into the future.
If you've ever asked yourself "why did I agree to do this?" you know what I'm talking about it.
I try to avoid this.
🦠 Scheduling is a self-reinforcing virus
It spreads quickly. Once you schedule one thing, you'll start having to schedule other things around it. Before you know it you've got a full calendar of things you decided were a good idea a month ago but you now regret.
🧐 Serves as a social filter
A downside of living calendar-free is that it's harder to meet new people. Especially those with a busy calendar.
However, I've found I tend to have a better rapport with people who live a similar lifestyle anyway so it serves as a good filter.
📞 Difficult to schedule business calls
This is a benefit disguised as a drawback. Most business calls can be replaced with an email. The calls that can't (open-ended calls, "exploring synergies", etc) often are a waste of time.
🌸 Live in the moment
To summarize, I prefer to live in the moment as much as possible.
Calendar events force me to plan around them rather than pursuing the opportunities that present themselves in the moment.
I realize I'm in a super-privileged position to be able to do this, but it's also something I've worked hard to achieve.
Building my own business, intentionally keeping the team small, choosing to lose out on certain opportunities because they would require more scheduling, etc.
I don't live a completely calendar-free lifestyle however.
I still have a monthly call with my team mate because we work remotely and we want to keep a human touch.
I usually book flights/hotels a month in advance to ensure availability and reasonable prices. Etc.
When I do schedule something, I try not to do too far in advance. Especially when it comes to meetings I schedule to follow up on an exact date and time closer to the date we want to meet.
Anyway I'm ending this thread… I feel like going to the gym now 😄
P.S. thanks to @levelsio for helping me become aware of this trait. I never thought much about it, until he mentioned it. He also recently coined the #NoCalendar movement 😄