The 7 Elements of an Ideal Day

In a strange way, I think this past year created a heightened sense of clarity for me about what I value. As the weight of Covid, and societal unrest permeated day after day, I looked to find ways to offset the heaviness. I asked myself, “what makes a normal day enjoyable?” We know that vacations and special, memorable days stand out, but what helps mundane days shine a little? How do we make those days enriching?

I came up with the following seven elements of an ideal day for me. These may not be valid for everyone, but I imagine that there is a high degree of commonality in these elements. The purpose of coming up with this list is not to manipulate each day so that it includes all seven parts, but to reflect and be aware of what matters so that we can begin to shape our days in more life-giving patterns.

Here they are:

• Unrushed morning for reflection and time with God – Any ideal day for me starts with unrushed quiet time. It is my favorite part of the day (I used to avoid it and dread it). This time centers me and calms me.
• Investment in purposeful productivity – I want my life to make a positive difference. Not every day has that opportunity, but an ideal day leaves that deep satisfaction that comes with living into my purpose.
• An experience that is fun – This has been a new awareness for me. It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to include something fun in each day. Everyone will define fun differently, but intentionally making fun a priority has a transforming effect on mundane days. This becomes particularly important in hard, dark days. Consider making a list of what is fun for you, in case you need help planning your fun.
• An experience that is relaxing – The other side of fun is relaxing. The default speed of life is fast. Because of this, I need to slow down the pace. I do this by including in a relaxing activity. Just like with fun, each person will define this differently, but I know that this adds comfort when stress is the norm.
• A connection with someone I love – Even for task-oriented people, connection is vital. I may not be able to create that kind of rewarding experience every day, but I know that my ideal day includes time with people I love.
• A pleasant rhythm – The elements mentioned above go a long way toward creating rhythm within a day. But often, I need to practice habits to enhance rhythm. I try to do this by leaving generous margins around my busyness, having time without noise, and inserting a few small breaks. A five-minute break in a busy day changes the whole feel of a day. Non-stop busyness inhibits effectiveness. A few, well-placed pauses allow us to work at maximum effectiveness.
• A good night’s sleep – The tendency is to think that we do not control the quality of our sleep. To some degree that is true. Still, the elements of our nighttime routine either help us sleep better or decrease the odds of restfulness.

What does your ideal day look like? What element of your ideal day is missing too often? How might you be able to make slight course corrections to make space for these elements?

My encouragement is to reflect on this and take specific action. Make one change in the right direction. We don’t know the course that 2021 will take personally or globally. In light of this, I want to take responsibility to move my days toward life by making decisions for good in the normality of mundane says.

Enjoy your day!