Once a month, I meet with a group of talented and inspiring creative women and we each discuss our creative process and give each other advice on how to maximize our creative juices. At our first gathering, I shared my "daily schedule," and was grateful no one thought I was insane.
This month, my friend asked how I manage to keep up with my schedule when there's unpredictability in the day. My answer: I don't. The idea of having a timed out daily schedule is wonderful, when you have control of your time. But, day jobs don't often allow for that. Even at my current job, which is wonderful, I don't even know which side of town I'll be working on until the day before. That definitely makes it tougher to plan. So, what does a control freak do? Learn to let go a little, and settle for a broader schedule.
For example, the Morning Routine and Evening Routine can be a grounding part of the day. No matter how hectic things get, I will always make time for that. I also try to keep to a general schedule of:
-Check email as soon as I get into the office (unless I have a meeting or assignment I need to take care of right away)
-Take care of admin stuff in the morning
-Write whenever I know I'll have more than an hour to work on something
-Catch up on reading in the afternoon
The bottom line: You just do what you can and whatever you can't get done, there's always tomorrow!