Time management is a top priority for the majority. Organizing micro-details saves us from decision fatigue. However, some experts believe that particular duties, such as creative work or leisure activities, don’t fit well into a calendar grid. Scheduling certain tasks can indeed cripple our ability to perform them, including our indulgence in them.

Nowadays, many of us appeal to time management with rigor, wedging blocks into our schedules as we carry out daily planning a science. Yet, not all tasks and activities—whether professional or personal—are well-suited to being scheduled. For starters, over-scheduling some intellectual routines won’t yield any benefits. According to Assistant Professor Brad Aeon, decades of research suggest that carefully arranging time can produce a sense of time pressure that can stimulate efficiency but not necessarily performance. When individuals associated time with money, time management as a concept gained traction. “When you put a price tag or monetary value on your work, i.e. 200 dollars an hour, your time becomes commodified, and you want to make the best out of it,” he explains. Over-optimization can affect our emotions as well. Interruptions, for example, can be a source of stress and irritation. We feel as if we lack sufficient time if we schedule our tasks too tightly. Because our perception of time is nonlinear, our sense of time becomes distorted as the due for a job assignment approaches.

Reframe our idea of “time management” to mitigate the drawbacks. Instead of allowing our schedules to dictate our routines, control them as the creators. Managing our time can certainly improve our lives, but it all comes down to how we handle it.