Engineering a Day in the Life of You
Posted on April 16, 2020 by Lucy Adams BSEd MS PCC, One of Thousands of ADD ADHD Coaches on Noomii.
Coach Lucy Adams walks you through solving the problem of how to design your ideal day by bootstrap engineering it from the ground up.
If you could live any kind of life, what would that life look like? Where would you be living? What work would you be doing? Who would you surround yourself with? What would you be doing with your leisure time? What would your work versus leisure balance be? How much would you travel and where would you be going? When would you want this new life to start?
It’s fun to imagine our ideal life, isn’t it? But it can be frustrating, as well, because we get hung up on the “how.” How do I make my imagined ideal life my reality? Most of us say we can’t because of the demands of our current circumstances, or we don’t know what steps to take to get from here to there, or we don’t have the budget for that kind of living, or we don’t know the answers to all the questions concerning our imagined life, or that our imagined life just isn’t practical.
Sure, you’re right. No one can wave a magic wand and call the imagined life suddenly into existence. To drop everything and run off into the sunset with wishes of something better would be impulsive and possibly disastrous.
But what if we looked at getting from today to our ideal life as a real possibility? What if we looked at it as a problem to solve? What if we treated solving the problem like an exciting adventure rather than an impossible feat? What if we actively engineered solutions to the problem of accessing our ideal life?
And what if I could assure you that calculus and physics would not be involved in our engineering? Yeah, I’m all in on that.
We cannot wish, hope, or think ourselves to where we want to be. We cannot trust that our days and weeks and years will eventually lead to our pie-in-the-sky. To engineer the solution to the question, “How do I get from here to my ideal life?,” we must analyze the problem, consider potential solutions, decide on a time frame, and act on our ideas.
Does it seem overwhelming to engineer your ideal life? Then why not start with engineering your ideal day?
First ask yourself the right questions. Some suggested questions include the following:
What does your ideal day look like?
How do you want to spend your time?
What do you want more of in your current day?
What do you want less of in your current day?
What do you want to accomplish?
What activity needs to be an essential part of your day?
What are your ideal rising and going to bed times?
Who do you want to be a part of your day?
At the end of the day, how will you know it was ideal?
What kind of person are you in your ideal day?
What problems does your current day present?
Keep going. What other questions do you need to ask and answer to design your day?
Now put together several prototypes that incorporate the elements of your ideal day but in different combinations. My grandmother used to say, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” I suggest several prototypes because there’s more than one ideal day and more than one way to put it together.
Begin systematically testing and revising your top three prototypes. As you test each prototype “perfect day” over, say, a week, rate each one on a scale of 1-10 in terms of:
1) Efficiency – Does it enable you to get tasks completed quickly and on time? For example, is it designed so that you do your most challenging activities during the part of the day when you experience your peak energy?
2) Effectiveness – Does it help you focus on activities and tasks that move you closer to goals and desired outcomes? For example, are you doing activities that build relationships with the people you want to surround yourself with in your ideal day?
3) Systematic – Is the design for your day one that enables you to consistently engage in repeatable routines while accommodating the input of new information, ideas, people, and so on? We’re creating a system that enables consistency while allowing fluidity.
If engineering your day, or your life, sounds like an appealing way to increase your happiness, harmony, and productivity, give it a try. If the project sounds intriguing yet daunting, let a coach walk the journey with you.
