The Cracks in Perfect Planning
This weekend, while visiting family, I proudly told my brother—someone I admire deeply, especially for his ability to stay organized in both work and life—that I had implemented a new calendar program on my website. Not only would it streamline client bookings, but it had also taken me through the exercise in time-blocking my week.
As the younger sibling always seeking his approval, I expected this would spark a satisfying exchange about our shared love of structure. I pictured us trading tips and reveling in the sense of control that good scheduling offers. But instead, he hit me with a simple, unexpected question: “How much time did you schedule in there not to be working?”
The confused look on my face prompted him to continue: “People who think they can control work often forget they need to control rest, too. Without one, the other will never be successful.”
His words really landed. I’ve thought about this before—heck, I’ve even written about it—but in my focus to become a master time-blocker, I’d lost sight of the bigger picture. Not just the importance of rest, but the sneaky illusion that perfectly planned days can shield us from life's unpredictable twists. Spoiler: They can’t.
Later, my brother circled back with a story from a TV show he had watched with my daughter that morning. In it, a newly crowned CEO (who happens to be a baby) sets the lofty goal of giving 100% to both work and family. Sound familiar? The math obviously doesn’t add up, but it’s easy to see how the CEO landed there—and how many of us do the same.
Sure, we can push ourselves like that for a while—just like in high school chemistry, when we learned we could dissolve more sugar into water by turning up the heat. But keep the heat too high for too long, and that solution either starts to burn or crystallize, hardening into something rigid and unworkable. In life, the same thing happens: compromising well-being, skipping moments of connection, and slowly calcifying into burnout.
Spoiler #2: It’s not sustainable. Eventually, it’ll crack.
So yes, let’s find efficiencies that help us use our time well. Yes, let’s carve out space to pursue what matters and make an impact. But let’s also zoom out—away from the calendar—and step into the real experience of life.
As the baby CEO wisely concluded: “Maybe being in charge is just a pain in the butt.” He’s not wrong—but suffering doesn’t have to be the whole story either.
The real magic lies in learning when to turn down the heat. Because, in the end, the connections we build and the legacies we leave depend on finding that balance—before things burn or harden beyond repair.