Here’s an idea: Every single day makes a significant difference in how your life unfolds.
How you spend your hours is how you spend your days, and how you spend your days is how you spend a life. In this framework, both the sum of the parts and the pieces of the puzzle hold equal weight in the story that is your life.
That’s why curating your day — with intention and specificity — is how to unlock a better life.
Curating your day is like curating the design of a room or even an Instagram feed, only the implications are far more lasting. It’s a process of adding or subtracting until something is balanced to your liking.
Skimping on curation leads to clutter, a lack of direction, and a disorganized mind. When you don’t curate your days, your whole life could reflect these qualities.
The process begins with writing down the things you want to include in your day. A thoughtful, intentional collection of pursuits that bring you forward, make you happier, or prevent you from moving in the wrong direction.
What few things, if you did them every day, would measurably push your life in a forward direction?
The list should be straightforward. Here’s mine: exercise, reading, journaling, and quality time with loved ones.
Maybe your list would include playing your favorite sport or listening to your favorite podcast, or perhaps meditation or cooking a meal with your partner. Think of the things you would love to do every single day that are also things that push you forward.
The list will be fairly short because there isn’t that much that we can fit into a day, especially with work or school. But the brevity of your list is useful because it can highlight all the things you did not include.
Curation means subtraction
Everything you did not include on that first list are items that you don’t consider absolutely necessary to do on a daily basis. Make a second list of those few items that you do often, but don’t consider essential to move the needle.
For me that list would include: social media use, watching YouTube videos, reading things on Reddit.
This list can help you become more mindful about the things you do that are not essential, or that you don’t consider useful in pursuit of your goals.
You can start gradually letting go of these things, among other distractions, to clear up more time in your day for more meaningful things, or even empty space so you don’t rush through the important parts.
Putting these two lists together shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes, but then the curation can help each day be a little better, more impactful, and more enjoyable.
And because life is a series of days strung together, curating each day is the most immediate way to curate your life. Being picky with your time allows you to have more of it.
Building a good life happens when you arrange the hours of your days with intention, and it facilitates a more meaningful way for your story to unfold.
In short, a good life happens on purpose. And a purposeful life is made up of curated days.
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