Episode #71 Design Your Day

There is little in life more devastating than the realization that we are not becoming the people we’ve dreamed to become. This week, Dr. Michael Brown and Casey Greenawalt recommend an intuitive routine that guarantees a life well lived.

Show Notes

I was not designing my day when I was in college. I was waking up whenever. I was eating whatever and whenever. I was going to class (around) when it started, leaving like, ‘When does my next class start again?’ And I quickly felt the consequences of that, but I also just started to quickly feel bad. You don’t feel good when you don’t know what’s coming up next.
Casey Greenawalt

Three Problems

  • We often believe the lie that a structured life is a boring life even though the more intentional we are with our schedules, the more fun and spontaneity are actually possible.
  • Since most of our days growing up were designed for us, it can feel overwhelming when we’ve finally reached a season where we have control over our calendar.
  • We often squander time without realizing it, and the amount of time we squander is typically much higher than we would guess.

Three Principles

  • The most difficult part about designing our day is actually doing what we decided to do even when we don’t feel like it.
  • Tasks assigned to specific timeframes are more likely to be accomplished than tasks written in a list.
  • It is more effective to schedule our lives in 30-minute intervals than in 3-minute intervals

Five Practices

  • When you feel like you don’t have enough time, take an inventory of all 168 hours of your typical week in order to evaluate whether that is actually true.
  • Schedule fun activities every week to motivate you to complete important but mundane activities.
  • Reserve one hour of every day for unexpected tasks and responsibilities.
  • Schedule your least exciting tasks during times when your mind and body naturally feels the most energized.
  • Spend ten minutes this evening designing the day you will live tomorrow – including your before-work day, your work day, and your after-work day.