Appointment calendar
I'll save that!
© TheGlowingCarrot / Shutterstock
Every turn of the year, calendars sell us the illusion of feasibility. Our author wants to waste less time scheduling in these times.
Karina Lübke
After a long hesitation, I did it according to the routine of the year: bought new calendar inserts for my Filofax – in the same defiance with which Luther once recommended planting an apple tree today if the world would end tomorrow. I want to be able to register the end of the world as soon as there is a specific date for it. The one that the ancient Maya had announced for December 21, 2012 was canceled without giving reasons or naming an alternative date. You know it.
See what's coming
In the stationery shop, I noticed that there are hardly any planners or calendars that simply leave space for your own thoughts and notes between the days. Instead, stacks of hybrids from edification literature and motivational trainers, in which you should write an appointment and many feelings in between. "A good plan", for example, the "holistic appointment calendar for more mindfulness and self-love", has sold more than 250,000 copies in the five years of its existence; the current ones now run under the motto "Two thousand twenty-one – time for healing". Well, let's see if there will be theme parties in 2021. In any case, I check out immediately with this word creation. Alternatively, you can buy "A good goal – from impossible to mastered in three months". Especially after 2020, which has completely given you the habit of planning, I find the pressure of having to deliver extra in 2021 overwhelming.
Behind every "organizer" is the fiction of ultimate self-efficacy. This helps against fear of the future: I have a plan! I too like to be prepared and appreciate plans as shock absorbers on the often humped, secluded life's path. But right now I wanted a reliable preview of whether the emotional early bird discount for my previous dreams and plans is worth it. Against the worry of not getting anything baked next year, you can at least get the "bread baking planner – organizer for the perfect baking day". But where can you find calendars with titles like "2021 – now even more", "The great planless" or "Go ahead, make God laugh"? Because if 2020 has taught me one thing, it is the feeling of humility and acceptance. Participate in an energy-saving way instead of always wanting or having to be a doer. Watch what's coming – maybe only on Netflix.
Don't stress yourself with the big plan. I now write micro-appointments in my Filofax such as "3–4 pm: Walk" and first enter the annual goal: "Don't go crazy and don't die". Instead, live much better everyday – without waiting for times to get better. Make yourself comfortable in 2021, take time for people with whom you wanted to get through a new pandemic, various press conferences of the federal government or the zombie apocalypse if necessary. It is quite possible that you will be happy without planning it.
KARINA LÜBKE writes and chills in Hamburg. However, she is also planning this column for 2021.