Have you ever thought about designing your day? I first read about it here. If someone is living a lifestyle you admire, I can guarantee they live a thoughtfully designed life. Whether they are living their passion, traveling around the world, entertaining in a beautiful home, writing and speaking…it’s not happening by accident. It’s possible they’re a total schlep (Yiddish for inept or stupid) who just has a great staff or pulls it together every so often to maintain their image but it’s more likely a byproduct of…
designing your day.
It’s all about living with purpose and intention. How many times do you get to December and realize the whole year went by (again) without accomplishing _____? Personal note: I was supposed to write my book in 2016. I’ve made some small progress but it’s 2018 and that goal is back.
Designing your day means building in the things that matter most to you that would otherwise get swept aside in the day to day rush.
As one of my readers pointed out, this is also important if you’re experiencing a shift in your life, like moving or becoming self-employed.
What would your list look like?
I’m working on designing my day to…
- keep my faith first, meaning consistent time in the Bible plus journaling, praying and studying (and there’s a book I’d like to write about a particular topic, too, that will take some concentrated study and research)
- cultivate relationships with my close family and friends including dates with my hubby and quality time with my boys
- help my husband grow his real estate business (including running a networking group plus hosting people in our home)
- run my home efficiently including eating healthy meals together and getting outside (and I’d like to start some gardening beyond my rose bushes out front and a few pots out back)
- expand my Discover Your Signature Color option to better serve my ladies
- host a monthly event
- make sure there’s time for self care and things like art and shopping that I know helps me stay grounded
- make progress on my book
- have the white space to mentor women and just to spend time with the ladies in my circle of influence
White space, which I believe is so critical to being influential, is absolutely necessary and doesn’t happen without intention.
Scheduling
Being pregnant and having a baby over the last year have really cut into my productivity levels (ha!) but over all, I am a pretty productive person. It has happened over the course of years by changing my habits and arranging my schedule. Here are my best tips.
Choose a day of the week for various tasks like for me…
- Monday:: working in my home office, home caring
- Tuesday:: Life Group, lunch with Mom, errands or shopping
- Wednesday:: networking, day date with hubby
- Thursday:: client appointments, catch up on social media and email
- Friday:: errands, shopping, fun with friends
- Saturday:: attend or host an event, church
- Sunday:: family and home
Make some things DAILY like…
- time for Bible reading, journaling, prayer
- me moments to recharge and rest
- prepping for the next day the night before
- laundry (I find it ideal to wash, dry and fold a load each day)
- some time spent on whatever “big thing” you aspire to do this year (the marathon, the book, the trip)
Designing your environment
List in hand, I move on to designing my environment with intention. It’s easy to see our environment as just our physical space but it actually includes the clothes we wear (a favorite topic of mine!), the information we consume, the food we eat and the people we interact with, plus the obvious things like the music we listen to and the TV we watch.
“Everything you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch is an environment. And those environments are either adding energy or draining energy. ”— Jim Bunch
That’s sobering! Viewing it that way should make us RUTHLESS about making sure our environments are as inspiring, organized and functional as possible. How? Start with one thing. Clean out your car, paint your office a soothing (or stimulating) color, upgrade your lunch or cut out some TV watching.
The perfect day
These closet mimic the Seven Dimensions of Wellness: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, environmental, occupational.
For a perfect day, I’d like to have some work time, family/friend time, outside time, God time, creative time and a “me moment.” I feel “off” if I’m stuck at the computer and don’t get outside enough OR if I play too much and the projects start to build up. On most days, these are combined because I’ll journal a Bible passage (God + creative), play with the kids at the park (kids + outside) or help a friend with her closet (work + friend). That’s the goal, really–that each day suits my most important values and goals.
So I’ll keep you posted as I tinker with this and update it.
If the idea of designing your day appeals to you, it will have to suit your season of life, priorities and limitations but I hope these ideas will offer you some inspiration.
Have you already designed your days without even thinking about it or are you hoping to be more strategic with your time? I’d love to know!
I need to be more intentional about designing my days. My husband and I recently decided to put our home on the market which is exciting, but at the same time, overwhelming. There is a lot we need to do before we list it. I’m looking at it as an adventure, but in order to stay focused and productive I need to design my days! This was such a timely and inspirational post, Tabitha ~ thank you! ????
What happened with your house going on the market?? And if you need any help designing your days now, let me know!