I've been thinking about doing something like that, though perhaps not as detailed as Gatsby's. I don't think it's crazy at all. When you've lived a sluggard's life as long as I have, anything that introduces order, structure, impetus, is bound to be an improvement. So far, I've made a to-do list and set alarms on my phone—one in the morning, one in the evening—to remind me to get off the computer and get on with the things I need to do (e.g., eating, washing, etc.). At the appointed hour, a gentle gong nudges me out of my internet-induced stupor. Next, I hope to train myself to actually obey the thing. Perhaps a more detailed schedule, with more gongs or bells or steamboat whistles or Sousa marches, will follow.
It's difficult to find the motivation to get things done. I have nowhere to go on a daily basis, and no one to mark my absence if I don't show up.* I have all the time in the world, yet I accomplish next to nothing. It's not that there aren't enough hours in the day, it's that they all come at the wrong time. I have a list of tasks I need to complete, some of which I really, really need to complete, but I put them off because I'm too tired (chronic fatigue(?)), or it's after one o'clock and I've not had my breakfast yet, or I'm afraid to call someone on the phone, or the sun is shining, so I can't leave the house. Dishes, laundry, Very Important Papers Which Must Be Signed And Sent: they all pile up, festering, reproducing on their own, until the weight becomes unbearable.
Obviously, the first step is to stop procrastinating.
I'll do that tomorrow. For sure.
*I actually own a small (tiny) business, but thanks to SA, I've completely neglected it for the past two-and-a-half years. It just sits there, costing me money, while I do nothing.
