Design Your Life: What Would You Do If You Had Nothing To Do?

Photo by Carol.

Every Thursday is Happiness Day on Zen Habits.

What would you be doing tomorrow if you retired today?

Let’s say you had a blank day staring at you. You didn’t have to work. You could do anything at all (although money is still a limiting factor). What would your perfect day be like?

These questions are more than just hypothetical questions to ask for fun or idleness. It’s an exercise meant to get you thinking about designing your life.

How do you design your life? Well, let’s assume that your life is under your control. Sure, not everything is under your control, but let’s assume that much of your life is yours to do with as you please. Even if that’s so, many of us go through life doing what we do because a series of events have made our life what it is today. We continue to do what we do without giving it much thought, because it’s easier that way.

Designing your life isn’t easy. You first have to dare to ask yourself these questions. You then have to dare to imagine that it can come true. And then comes the difficult task of changing your life so that it is what you want it to be.

Perhaps your life is already just how you like it — if that’s the case, you are to be congratulated. But I submit that many of us, while generally happy, have a life not of our own design — at least not a conscious design.

So today let’s take a look at one way to consciously design your life. It’s not the only way, but it’s a path to happiness that I’d recommend.

Here’s the process:

1. What’s important? Ask yourself what is most important to you. Regular Zen Habits readers know that I ask this question in many articles, but that’s because any process should start with this, whether it’s a process of simplifying, of productivity, of frugality, or of becoming happier. What do you love doing? Who do you love spending time with? Make a short list of 4-5 things.

2. What is your passion? What do you love doing the most? Can it be a way you make your living? If you can make a career out of doing something you love, you will love your day. Dare to imagine that this could come true.

3. Design your day. Start with a blank slate, and design your perfect day. Incorporate the short list of 4-5 most important things above, to ensure that you are spending your day doing what’s most important to you. Also include time spent working at your passion (from item #2). Include an ideal routine, including a morning and evening routine, and everything in between. What time would you wake up and go to bed?

4. Figure out how to get there. What changes would you need to make in your life to make that perfect day a reality? Be willing to consider drastic changes if necessary. Come up with a plan to get there. It might be a plan that will take 6 months, a year, two years or 5, but you can get there eventually, if you want it enough. Dare to make it a reality.

5. Start making some changes immediately. Some of the changes can be done right away, especially if the changes are under your direct control. The time you wake up and go to bed, for example, are probably under your control. Your morning and evening routines are another example of things you can probably change immediately. Spending time doing the 4-5 important things on your list might also be an immediate possibility. Notice the things you normally do that aren’t on the list of 4-5 important things — consider eliminating or minimizing the time you spend on the non-important things to make room for the important things.

6. Start making long-term changes now. Longer-term changes might include things like doing your passion for a living, or where you live, or getting out of big commitments that don’t contribute to your happiness or are not on your short list of 4-5 things. But while these kinds of changes might take longer, they can still be done. Start on them today, set them in motion, and dare to believe that you can change these things. Make a plan, and set it in motion.

7. Keep the end in mind. Print out your perfect day, and keep that in mind as you begin to make changes. This is the life you designed, rather than the one you’ve fallen into. You are in control of your life, and you can have that life, if you want it enough.

If you liked this article, please bookmark it on del.icio.us or vote for it on Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)

See also:

Design Your Life: What Would You Do If You Had Nothing To Do?

Photo by Carol.

Every Thursday is Happiness Day on Zen Habits.

What would you be doing tomorrow if you retired today?

Let’s say you had a blank day staring at you. You didn’t have to work. You could do anything at all (although money is still a limiting factor). What would your perfect day be like?

These questions are more than just hypothetical questions to ask for fun or idleness. It’s an exercise meant to get you thinking about designing your life.

So today let’s take a look at one way to consciously design your life. It’s not the only way, but it’s a path to happiness that I’d recommend.

Here’s the process:

If you liked this article, please bookmark it on del.icio.us or vote for it on Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)

See also:

Posted on 6 September 2007 in Happiness |
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Comments (28)

Kitsune Says:

September 6th, 2007, 5:49 am

“If you can make a career out of doing something you love, you will love your day.”

Somehow, I cannot relate to that …

I have allways had the feeling that if I had to turn a passion into something professionnal, I’d lose that passion rather quickly!

Also, I have allways preferred to keep my passions as a way to imerge myself into something that helps me to get away from unpleasant projects/situations/thoughts …

I would say that my passions are there to help me remaining … say … sane(?!?)

Besides, if my passions turned into some professional activity … what would be left for the ‘non-job related’ times (i.e. evening, week-ends, days off, …) ?!?!?

This being said, I can understand how good it sounds ‘turning your passion into a job’. And I must admit that I sometimes resent people who seem to truly enjoy being able to use their passion professionnally … but still, those thought that I stated here-above quickly come back to me and sort of bring me back ‘on track’ … (however wrong that track might be …)

just my 2 cents …

Leo Says:

September 6th, 2007, 5:53 am

@Kitsune: Excellent comment. There is some truth to what you say … however, as someone who is doing what he loves (writing for this blog), I have to say that it is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I am working to quit my day job (I have enough income right now to do so, including my freelance income, but I want to pay off all my debts and have a good emergency fund) … but even so, I am loving my life right now. Writing for ZH is fantastically fun for me.

So, while you could be right in some cases, living my passion has worked for me, and I’d recommend it to others.

Joshua Says:

September 6th, 2007, 6:34 am

I suppose if I didn’t have to work today I’d be posting on my blog(which, I’ve been trying to stick with and have enjoyed at least a limited success :-D ). Short of that, I was thrilled that they put a Starbucks in just around the block from my apartment complex so I’d probably head over there with my laptop, get one of those tasty Pumpkin Spice Latte’s and surf a bit or read some more of ‘Accelerando’.

Balfour Says:

September 6th, 2007, 7:42 am

Joshua, thanks for mentioning Accelerando. I’ve never been much of a sci-fi reader, but am reading Snow Crash now and loving it, so I’m adding yours to my list too.

Addy Says:

September 6th, 2007, 8:17 am

I’m the jack-of-all-trades type who likes everything under the sun. My hobbies and current obsessions change frequently so I keep a list of unfinished projects and new ideas. One thing I would like to do is finally master that which catches my eye. At the moment, I am teaching myself Korean– something I really want to do. If I were to turn my passion into my work I’d be a librarian (I’m a senior in college and that’s actually in my career top ten).

At the core of everything I do, there’s always an element of researching and learning, plus on top of that I like computers and books. So it may be the way to go…

I’ll be sure to think about the questions you pose as I figure out what I want to do.

Joshua Says:

September 6th, 2007, 8:21 am

Balfour, I’m glad! As it turns out the only reason I found it was because my girlfriend dragged me to the midnight release of the Harry Potter finale and I just kind of stumbled upon it in the sci-fi/fantasy section. By the way, the book centers heavily on the benefits of open source. Ironically, I thought to myself, “Shouldn’t this book be free then?” :-D Lo and behold I found out yesterday that it IS free and the author makes it available for download here under the Creative Commons License - http://www.accelerando.org/book/. Have a good one!

Megan Says:

September 6th, 2007, 9:04 am

I love this post! Thank you!! I’m putting together a happiness workshop right now and love the practicality of what you’ve written. Designing an ideal life is completely possible, and I know so many people (including myself) who are works in progress — putting one foot in front of the other as we pursue that which makes us happy. The more we do it, the easier it becomes. Happiness is a habit. Your tips give solid ways to adopt a life by design.
Fantastic!

Joshua Says:

September 6th, 2007, 9:13 am

Megan, just wanted tell you I love your site design! I just checked it and it’s got a really clean, refreshing layout :)

Kitsune Says:

September 6th, 2007, 10:07 am

@Leo

I did not want to imply that it is not something that can work, I have seen sufficient examples around me of people who seem to be living from their passion to know that it is indeed possible

It’s just that I can’t see myself doing it … eventhough it really sounds great!

When I read or hear of people like you, I say to myself “Wow! sounds great! Wish I could do that too” but right after that I have this big list of ‘yes but …’ coming to my mind and the dream just shuts itself down …

I guess I’m not courageous enough to give it a try … or that I’m too much entangled in a life that sort of prevents me from it (mortgage for the house, and so …)

Kitsune Says:

September 6th, 2007, 10:16 am

one more little comment.

This post did resonate with me in that I have been asking myself lately what kind of goal I had in my life, and coming short of an answer …

I don’t think I have the slightest hint of a goal in my life …. scary hu!?! ;o)

M Says:

September 6th, 2007, 10:47 am

good read… but honestly i’ve been more than a little distracted by the accompanying photo. nice stems!

Paul Says:

September 6th, 2007, 10:56 am

I’d sleep a lot more, work out more often, spend more time with people.

Unforch, the job and the money it brings in takes up most of my time. And if I get less of a job, I get less of an apartment, which is already a studio. So.

Leisureguy Says:

September 6th, 2007, 13:18 pm

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for not titling this post “7 steps to designing your life” or some other title with a numeral.

As to the content itself, I applaud the post. Our life is going to have either a structure to which we have consciously contributed and tried to shape, or something else. On the whole, it certainly seems better to think about the things you want and take deliberate steps to incorporate them into your life.

OTOH, it’s important to hold those things lightly and maintain the process, for often it happens that the things we deliberately work to bring into our lives turn out not to be so satisfying as we imagined, and things that arrive by chance turn out to be satisfying. This is not to say that it’s a good idea to *depend* on chance, but rather that the process is not one that’s going to be done once and then completed. The process continues, and awareness is always important.

gmpicket Says:

September 6th, 2007, 15:04 pm

I have essentially followed these steps for the past year, and have accomplished quite a bit in that time. A year ago, I told a friend that I wanted to get some of my art exhibited, and currently, I have two pieces being exhibited in a gallery. It’ll be interesting to see what I can accomplish in another year!

Leo Says:

September 6th, 2007, 15:11 pm

Thanks for the great comments, guys.

@Leisureguy: I hear you regarding the numbered lists (and heard you on the other comment thread), but just so you’re prepared, while I will do my best to limit them, I’m probably not going to eliminate them completely. :)

You make a great point regarding a designed life being a process, not a destination. Agreed!

Jasi Says:

September 6th, 2007, 15:29 pm

I think I’d brush up on Spanish and learn to drive stick. Maybe even write. That sounds like plenty to me.

am Says:

September 6th, 2007, 15:49 pm

i’ve made it a big priority in my life to find time away from work — even work that i love — so i can have extended leisure time every year or two. (i’m in the middle of such a spell right now, although i am running out of money.)

here is what i have found most recently:

it takes a few weeks to just relax, sleep a lot, and get some perspective. after that, i embarked on and completed some projects i had been thinking about for a while but never had time to accomplish.

after those were done, i pretty much become more passive and have spent probably 90% of my waking hours doing this:

- reading *a lot* of books
- watching a lot of movies that i’ve been meaning to get to for years, and some fluff that i wouldn’t watch when i was always trying to squeeze in “quality” films.
- watching baseball — more than i ever have
- reading stuff online

now, if you asked me, “what are your favorite things in life?”, the first three items there would probably top the list. (travel would be on the list, too, but i can’t afford it right now.) so — to boil down this overly long, self-involved comment into a sentence or two: what this tells me is that after an initial push to be actively creative, large blocks of leisure time will cause you/me/one to fall back on the things they love most. turned around, you might say, “if you don’t know what you love most, take some time off, and just see what you do.” as long as you don’t spend all your time sleeping, you should get a pretty good idea.

Truthteller Says:

September 6th, 2007, 16:34 pm

I’d do what I normally do when I have nothing important on my plate. I’d seek some; silence and solitude and do some dreaming and thinking.

Most of us can’t seem to stop trying to do something. We become really good at doing what doesn’t need to be done. In truth the most productive time is when we do nothing, we shut out the world and all of its distractions and ‘dream and think’.

In fact that sounds so good to me right now, that I think I’ll pack it in and head to my happy place (the lake) and do nothing!

Eduardo

Metroknow Says:

September 6th, 2007, 16:46 pm

Thanks for the article Leo - I have actually been doing what you said as far as doing something about it right now/today: I am now following your suggested routine of getting up earlier, and I have to say I’m loving it, even though I am in no way a “morning person” (my ideal day starts at 11AM and goes to 2AM; my job and kids, however, do not).

Sidenote: This morning I got up at 6, did some online education that I’ve been meaning to do (tutorials on applications I want to use more effectively), and lo and behold: I remember it.

Kitsune: In your original comment, you suggested that if you did your passion as a job, then what would you do in the off hours? Well, read about Da Vinci a bit and you’ll find that answer. The truth is there are more things that you can be passionate about than is possible in the limited number of years we have on the planet.

So my answer is: You develop more passions, which in the end, I think is the most enriching thing you can do with your life. To be passionate about how you spent your days would be a good thought at the end of the ride, I would think.

BTW Leo: My family is from Guam, and my wife and I honeymooned there. Taitano family, if you want to know. Thanks for following this passion - we’re all benefiting!

The Thinker Who Was Not Thinking Says:

September 6th, 2007, 19:43 pm

This is incredibly ironic. This hypothetical situation is much how my life is right now. I am stuck and have nothing to do all day, but the problem is that I fill my day with nothing. I guess what I needed was to remember that I should be following my passions and actually organizing my days, not wasting them! Amazing as it seems, that was right in front of my nose the whole time (the most important things always seem to be). It appears that days (weeks, months) of unstructured nothingness really can fry one’s brain. Anyways, thanks for reminding me where I should be setting my priorities.

Cammy Says:

September 6th, 2007, 21:44 pm

Excellent exercise (and didn’t leave me winded!) About a year ago, I did something similar, ‘What If I Won the Lottery’, and to my surprise, many of the things I came up with were already within my reach. I’m still pondering some elements of your challenge, but I’m already sensing a similar result. I love when stuff like this happens. :)

Nancy B. Says:

September 6th, 2007, 22:59 pm

I was lucky enough to stumble into a career I love that uses my strongest skills - playing with little kids and talking (I’m a pediatric speech therapist.). I have said, many times, if I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d still do what I do. I’d just work part-time and travel more around the U.S., like Charles Kuralt used to do in his “On the Road” series.

Right now, I’d have to say that, while some of my life is by design, much of it was being open and willing to go along with some of the serendipitous opportunities that have come my way, and then designing my plans around them. That openness has taken me to some amazing places. I can hardly wait to see where it will take me next!

webtuga Says:

September 7th, 2007, 4:34 am

All you need is to be yourself…

Brett Says:

September 9th, 2007, 1:07 am

Seems to be me that your getting your Zen habits from Peter in Office Space’s high school guidance counselor.

The idea of designing a perfect day seems futile to me, cause even i I could live it, I think I’d start looking for a change fairly quickly. Any advice on variety in one’s perfect day?

Eric Palmer Says:

September 9th, 2007, 9:39 am

Actually I started to redesign my life about 2 years ago and am continuing to do so. I have my ideal job (speaks to many of my strengths and passions), found my mission in life outside of work and have been able to delivery on that mission. And I’m having fun with life redesign, family and friends. My post http://vitaljourney.org/?p=40 “When is your job or hobby right for you? speaks to this a little. I’m going to be a frequent reader on your blog. Keep up the good work….

Kim of Kim & Jason Says:

September 10th, 2007, 13:22 pm

Great article, Leo.

Dare I say that if everyone followed your advice this world would be a much better place. Can you imagine everyone enjoying both their 9-5 AND their 5-9?

I think this IS possible. Your seven step process is thorough and well thought out.

As someone who LOVES her life, I am excited to say that it’s possible to do so, even at age 29.

What are we waiting for?

Liara Covert Says:

September 13th, 2007, 20:56 pm

I laughed at the title of this post. Personally, I’ve never learned how to be idle and don’t imagine doing “nothing.” I like to fill my time with pursuits that enrich myself and others. Writing, gardening, cooking, conversing, meditation, whatever seems most appropriate at a given time.

I would encourage everyone to step back, reflect and do what it takes to savor every moment. After all, living and learning at our own pace is what living life to the fullest is all about.

Alex Weber Says:

June 7th, 2008, 17:36 pm

Hey Leo,

Just found this post on your site while googling around and trying to figure out how to brand a new blog about balancing lifestyle with a job you care about in the post-college years.

Anyway, I really like your ideas here, and I’m going to finally turn around some of the probing questions I like to ask people on myself!

In short, Thanks.
Alex