Scheduling in Rimworld can be a little bit dull which is why for the longest time I just stuck to the default schedule, it is not the worst and everyone’s needs are just about taken care of.

Obviously like everything in this game, there are many variables when deciding what will work best for your world. Factors to consider when setting up a schedule are: night owls, partners, and those with similar jobs.

Colonists with the night owl trait are very suited to the late shift when it comes to working as they prefer late nights rather than early mornings. For those in your colony that are coupled up it provides a great benefit to line up their rec and sleeping time, it doesn’t have to be an exact match but make sure there is some overlap. 

Another thing to consider is your colonists with similar jobs, trying to fit 4 cooks round one stove is a bit tricky and not very efficient. But if you put two cooks on one shift and two on another that solves the issue. The same can be said for your plant experts, miners, etc. 

Without further ado here are what I think are the top 3 best schedules to have your colonists on.

3. All Rest, All Play

Scheduling all rest all play

As the name states you just need to divide your schedule into 8hrs of sleep and all the rest as recreation. It is brilliantly simple and keeps your pawns pretty much at maximum happiness, which in turn leads to fewer breakdowns. 

Once their happiness is full they go about work. This schedule is a very relaxed choice and allows your colonists to enjoy their little lives. A couple of downsides are that you colonists' happiness bars will fill at different rates so they may not socialise as much altogether. Which, to be fair, isn’t the worst thing in the world because there will be some overlap at some point. 

How do I set it up?

• 8hours sleep
• All the rest recreation

2. Split Shifts

Split shifts with rec just before bedtime so they go to sleep happy 

This form of scheduling splits the allocated sleep time for each pawn into 2 chunks of 4 hours. Splitting sleep is most beneficial when you hit mid-game once combat starts ramping up in difficulty. 

Your pawns will maintain a relatively high mood because of the recreation designated recreation time, they will also socialise together and build better bonds. The split rec hours offer mood boosts throughout the day which helps maintain efficiency.

Happy workers are effective workers!

Probably the biggest benefit to this is that you will always be prepared for an extended fight. A raid arriving just before bedtime and driving your colonists mad due to lack of sleep is a thing of the past!

How do I set it up?

• Set up 2 shifts of sleep recommended: 0-3 sleep and 12-15 sleep
• Make sure there are 2 shifts of recreation totalling at least 2 hours
• The rest of the day can be anything

1. Rigid Regime

What a strict schedule looks like featuring an adaptation for a night owl

For those that want to rule with more of an iron fist then perhaps this method of scheduling is more for you. 

The rigid regime is whatever you make it to be, but every hour of the day is planned out. This works out particularly well if you want to stagger your pawns waking up and going to bed, it gives you more hours of the day to clean up and do basic grunt work without others getting in the way and making things dirty.

A strict schedule will also ensure that your colonists are well-rested and taking part in enough recreational activities to keep them happy. However there is a downside, you will need to take careful note of all of your colonist’s traits. They will not be happy being forced to sleep when they don’t need to for example.

For quick sleepers, for example, I would probably half the amount of time dedicated to sleep and replace the remaining sleep time with anything. It means the quick sleepers can have the option to sleep in if they need to but once their sleep needs are fulfilled they will go about other things. 

How do I set it up?

• 6 hrs sleep
• 4 hours anything
• 4 hours work
• 3 hours anything
• 5 hours work
• 2 hours recreation

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