> Perhaps I'm afraid that structure will take away choice or creativity

Yeah, I hear you.

I guess the idea is that when you start grad school there will be structure. You will have (I'm supposing) classes and seminars and stuff like that that you have to get to. If you have a class at 9am monday (for example) then you have a reason to get up before then so that you can make it to class on time. School / work does indeed impose structure. I guess the idea is that while sometimes those committments really suck (one doesn't feel like going to class) when one actually gets there oftentimes it can result in one feeling better (because the class is stimulating and because the social contact is nice and because one gets a feeling of acomplishment that one made it to class).

I wake up around 8am. Usually I don't feel like getting up. Still feel a bit drowsy. So I'll doze for a couple hours before I drag myself out of bed. Then I feel fairly crappy and lethargic for the rest of the day. If I get up at 8am (because I've arranged to meet someone for morning tea) then while it is hard for 10 minutes or so (before coffee / shower) it actually results in my feeling more awake and having a more productive day. So I actually feel better through the day and feel a lot better for having acomplished something productive.

The trouble with mood dependent action (especially mood dependent action around depression such as eating and sleeping and watching tv and the like) is that the actions we do are actions that are likely to keep us in that mood rather than help us find our way out of it. For example, when you exercise your body releases endorphins which are your bodies natural opiates. When endorphins are released one feels good. Happy and awake and invigerated. If you are feeling depressed often the last thing you feel like doing is exercising. So tempting to just go back to bed and feel depressed for the rest of the day. If one can MAKE oneself do some exercise, however, then one is likely to feel awake and happier in half an hour. That is the rationale behind 'activity scheduling' in cognitive behaviour therapy. I think that is partly why making oneself stick to a structure of activities helps too.

I think the idea is to choose your own structure. The point is to have a structure of things that one would like to do. Things that helps one feel like one is living a worthwhile life. Oftentimes it is one thing to 'rationally know' what one would like to do with the day and what one feels like doing with the day. This is something that I still struggle with. In a way it is paradoxical... Coming up with some structured activities (especially around waking up and doing some things during the day that one considers to be worthwhile) actually tend to result in one feeling happier and freer and more productive. It isn't about filling in what one does with every hour (or it doesn't have to be). The idea is kind of that... By choosing to engage in activities that one objectively finds meaningful (despite how one feels) one will (eventually) start to feel like one is living a more meaningful life. To start with it is about acting despite how one is feeling. It can take some time but after a while it becomes about the things one knows one needs to do in order to feel like ones life is meaningful.