Daily Plan (A Necessary Evil)

10th to 11th grade feels like a huge jump already and school hasn’t even started yet. The fact that I’ve decided to go for Medicine doesn’t help.

Suddenly, I’m supposed to plan everything I do and well, actually do it. A Daily Calendar decides for me when I take a shower, study, eat, exercise, study, read, study, write, play the piano, study etc. I know it’s really going to benefit me but I hate how necessary it is because.. I hate it. I hate how it changes so much. There’s scores of sites you can find telling you how you should develop a strict routine and why it’s best to follow it and I agree with them completely, but it can all get a little frustrating sometimes. So while this post will majorly comprise me ranting about my daily plan, know that I still attempt to follow it willingly because I’m aware of its advantages.

Reading. Reading used to be this “Hey I’m bored; I could read” or “I’ve got to finish this book today” or “4 down, 3 more to go! I can’t get enough of Harry Potter.” or “Done! I can’t wait for the next Heroes of Olympus book to release!” or just “I feel like reading because reading is fun.” Now I’m to read for exactly an hour before I go to sleep (guys, Before I Go To Sleep is a book btw, and it’s incredible) because the rest of my hours are occupied. The inarguable benefit though, is that I’m finally getting to some serious work on my To-Read list.

Eating. Breakfast, lunch and dinner haven’t even been honoured with their own time period on my Daily Plan. You know, I could always Breakfast + Read, Lunch + Online Course and Dinner + Write, or something. I’ll admit I don’t do that yet, but I’m going to start soon and when I do, I am going to miss having dinner with my entire family in the TV Room every other night, watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S, debating whether or not to watch the next episode (they play back-to-back!) and eyeing my parents exchange awkward glances every time something age-inappropriate happens/ is said because I don’t even know why we let my 11 year old brother watch with us. Then again, he used to watch House with me..

Piano. You know how when you study or eat or read or go cycling, you start thinking? (It’s fine if you cannot relate; I’m an over-thinker) I do that a lot and sometimes it’s so frustrating and overwhelming, I wish I could just empty my mind of thoughts, clear my memory like on a computer. I need a break from my own commotion. Playing the piano provides me with this much-required time off. My favourite melodies tune out the incessant clamour of irrelevant thoughts in my head and I can finally function with clarity again. Besides, 9 years of learning and understanding this instrument have made me fall in love with creating bliss without having to think. According to my Daily Plan, I’m to spend 1-1.5 hours practising which I find very restricting, to be honest. I try to spread it out over the day and find more time for it though because that’s just what you do for things you love.

Online courses. A new addition to my life, and one I’m very glad for. I’m currently taking a Python course on codecademy.com, a course on Introductory Psychology on edx and learning Spanish and continuing French on DuoLingo. I spend two hours on MOOCs per day though honestly, once I start, I could just keep going and hence, often set an alarm “Stop MOOCing” for an hour or two later.

Writing. If you’ve read my first post, you’ll know that I’m accustomed to punching in a quick Memo whenever I need/ want to on my phone. My Daily Plan assigns a single hour at night to writing which includes working on my blog and penning down some essays or book reviews. I have a feeling this isn’t ever really going to work out. “Okay let me just write for this one hour” wouldn’t yield anything decent from me! I’ll write then, okay, but it’s highly unlikely that I’d be satisfied enough with the outcome to actually put it up. I write when I need to write, when I want to write, when something just hits me. For example, this post was composed entirely outside of my writing hour. In a way, my tendency to over-think makes writing a major distraction for me. And it’s great! Whether I’m studying, reading, travelling, working, I’ll always have access to notebook paper and some sort of writing device or a gadget with the Notes app. I can write whenever I need to, and it even counts as productive work.

Okay, I shouldn’t be complaining; I’m getting a lot more done in a lot less time. I guess I’m just a little afraid to adjust to a routine that I’ve got to follow strictly and really commit to, because of how much it changes what I do everyday and how much of everything I do, even though I know it’s a necessary form of practise for the (as no one fails to remind me) very tough life that awaits me now that I’ve chosen Medicine. And just in case my cribbing caused you to think I don’t believe in my Daily Plan, here’s a promise: I intend to follow it to the best of my capacity and hope that at this time next year I’m much better and more refined and efficient as a person.

Hetay Ndeay.
(‘The End’ in Pyg Latin, which I know thanks to my Python course)