Cheat Sheet
I have to admit that for the past year I’ve been using a cheat sheet to help structure my days.
It starts with writing down the things I value most - the things that bring me energy and make me feel the most like myself. For me, these are:
Family & Friends
Exercise & Health
Creative Expression
As I write out my goals for the day or to-do list, I bucket them under the value they fit into. Here’s what I’ve discovered.
Some things on my list don’t fit into any of these buckets. That’s ok. Sometimes shit just needs to get done. No cheating and trying to squeeze a task into a category it doesn’t belong to — this only works if you’re honest.
Balance is the key. If my list is skewed too far in one direction, even doing fun things drains my energy. I love exercising but if I’ve worked out for seven days in a row and haven’t carved out any time to have coffee with a friend, I feel out of balance. The same is true for the reverse.
Planning to be out of balance feels better than randomly being out of balance. I’m in the final stages of finishing up a project I’ve been working on, so lately my Creative Expression slider has been cranked way up and my other sliders are a bit lower. Making meaningful gains without sacrifice doesn't exist. You can’t keep things the same and change them at the same time. Knowing this is going to happen, embracing it, and knowing you will eventually rebalance makes it feel less stressful.
Crossover is magic. Activating multiple areas at the same time is like supercharging my day. Skating with old friends at a new spot is the ultimate for me. I’m with people I love, doing the thing I love the most, and figuring out how to attack the new terrain. Unbeatable.
If nothing on my to-do list fits into a category I ask myself: “What on this list can wait, or not be done at all?” That thing gets replaced with something from one of my main categories. (This)
When I started playing with this system it was tough to swallow that I couldn’t just intuitively live my values. Why do I need a cheat sheet to stay on track? It made me feel weak and a bit embarrassed.
We all have pressure on us from multiple angles. There’s nothing weak about having a tool or a system that helps us consistently rise above those pressures.