Episode #232 Best Of: Design Your Day

Five Problems

• Life is only boring if we choose a life of boredom.
• It is difficult to schedule adulthood when so much of childhood was scheduled for us.
• It is disorienting to live each day doing whatever we feel like doing in the moment.
• We often live as slaves to our schedules even though we have the power to choose.
• Time is more often squandered than stolen, and we have more time than we think.

Ten Principles

• A to-do list is not nearly as helpful as actual tasks in actual time slots.
• There is a difference between planning our lives and designing our lives.
• Elite individuals discern how to invest their time and increase their energy.
• Intentionality is the surprising prerequisite to spontaneity.
• The first items on our calendars should be whatever is most important.
• We are more likely to stick to a physical schedule than a mental one.
• It is more helpful to schedule life in 30-minute intervals than in 3-minute intervals.
• We can do the things we’ve decided to do even when we don’t feel like doing them.
• The choices we make today will ripple into eternity.
• Our schedule doesn’t need to work for everybody but only for us.

Ten Practices

• Reflect on the question, “Are my priorities reflected on my schedule?”
• If you are a college student, treat it like a job by working it 9 to 5.
• Audit your week to identify how many of your 168 hours you can actually control.
• Spend ten minutes each night designing the day you will live tomorrow.
• Invest one hour each week designing the remaining 167 hours.
• Ensure that you always have something to look forward to.
• Schedule margin for interruptions instead of pretending you will never be interrupted.
• Decide in advance your workout, your lunch, and your bedtime.
• Complete your most exhausting yet essential task when most energized and effective.
• Consolidate tedious work rather than allowing it to repeatedly interrupt your focus.