How to Create and Guarantee the Perfect Day
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How to Create and Guarantee the Perfect Day
It was 10pm and I finished a chapter of one of my favorite books. As I closed the book I sat for a few minutes and basked in the glory of…. “That was a PERFECT day! It worked!” How did I create the perfect day? Well, I had to begin with the end in mind. Meaning, I saw how I wanted the day to end and then worked backwards. This takes being really intentional with time and using deadlines to make sure that it happens.
I’d love to share 3 techniques I use to help you gain more of what you love accomplishing and less of what you don’t.
1. When I plan my week I start with what is preferred. I don’t look at it with “what I HAVE to do syndrome”. I start with the dream week. It begins with plans for date night on Thursday night Chantel, events with the kids, time with friends and building new ideas such as fun sketches at night for new projects. THEN I fit what HAS to happen around it. I know it sounds crazy but give this a chance to sink in.
What if we fit work around life and not life around work?
So, I will use one of my days, Monday as one of my examples. I use 5am to 8:15am to work out, time alone in prayer, bible study with family at breakfast, getting kids to school. 8:15am 10am write weekly blog. 10am-11:30 create original drawing for blog. 12pm lunch with Chantel. Paint from 1-5pm. 5-8:30 family time. 8:30 -10:30pm buffer time of paint, sketch, read. In addition to the time in the studio and sketching or painting, I listen to podcasts and recordings of my mentors. Most of my days look like this as it is my favorite times of day etc. I love to write in the morning and paint in the afternoon.
Im not a big waster of time. I like to leverage my time and get the most out of it. Why? Because I get done in one week what most brands do in 3. You will have better quality time with family, make more money and produce more results using the power of deadlines and a schedule. This took a while for me to learn and I’m always refining to get even more strategic. This technique, as well as many others are what I teach in www.noahuniversity.com My goal is to take my almost 30 years of strategic living and techniques and give it to you to help you hit the bulls eye of living life with purpose.
2. Creating a perfect day requires a plan. If you fail to plan you plan to fail. This is in all aspects of life from health to time with your children. I had seasons where I would wake up and just let the day happen. These are the weeks I was cranky and frustrated. Sunday would roll around and I’d have nothing to show for 7 days of living. I was in the same position as Monday. I do better when I am structured. If you want to know what this looks like just look at your kids life. If you let them just do their thing the wheels can come off and everything gets out of control. I totally believe that structure is the key to our success with Lil’ Noah’s Autism. When we start our day saying, “Ok, here’s the plan”. Our days are amazing. We all know what to expect and how to wrap our head around it. It also helps with knowing how long each will last.This includes my technique of checking email only twice a day. This one alone will transform your life. Read about it here.
3. Create Deadlines– When I have to do a project or task that is not preferred I put a crazy deadline on it. Why? because it makes it temporary. I can do anything so long as it is temporary. This is one of the best techniques with the kids. When I ask them to clean up their room they say, “That will take FOREVER!!” Well, I find the same goes for us as adults. When I do the dishes, clean out cabinets in the garage, or a project that is challenging i use my technique of “eating the elephant one small bite at a time”. Little doses at a time. Don’t try to reorganize the entire garage in a night. do one cabinet a week. Drastic time limits make it doable.
So, will there be interruptions? Yes, but I hold the interruptions to a minimum. I don’t go online. I check email twice a day, I don’t take calls, I don’t return texts right away. Whatever I do I do 100% for the task. That way, when I’m with the kids I’m not just physically present but also mentally present. Same for all other areas of life.
What ways has structure helped you? Or could life use more structure? I’d love to hear your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Thanks for being here and please share and repost!
“How to Create a Perfect Day”
Recent comments
Melanienys 9 years ago
Noah, I really liked your insight on taking little bites out of a project. I have so many things I want to do around the house and while it seems all so overwhelming, your perspective really makes me feel positive about chipping away at it. Thanks for your inspiration and your wonderful work!
Jerry Cates 9 years ago
Noah, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your insights on creating the “perfect day”. So many times, I’ve felt like the day is a freight train coming down the track and I’m just trying to stay out in front of it. Not a good felling to say the least.
This little bit of insight you’ve shared, is extremely helpful. Thank you so much!
noahfineart 9 years ago
Jerry, thanks. I appreciate the comment. Glad it helped!
KEVIN JACOBS 9 years ago
Once again thanks for the Mentorship and the inspiration!!
noahfineart 9 years ago
Kevin, you’re welcome man. Keep it rolling!
Chad 9 years ago
Once again Noah thanks! Not only are you a talented artist, you make a pretty good motivational speaker too!! I’m always anxious to see what I can learn from you to help myself day to day.
Paula McLane Jennings 9 years ago
Maybe getting more structure in my life will be helpful. I’m on disability so most of my days don’t have a particular plan as a lot hinges on how I am feeling as I have CFS. The days that have been better are the days when I have part time work or a volunteering assignment as I have to force myself up and out of the house. How do you manage to only read email only 2X per day? I get so much I am always swamped. I don’t even know how I would schedule time because there is so much as I have 3 addresses – one for general stuff, one for family stuff and one for creative stuff. The first thing I do on all of them is delete what appears to be unnecessary like sales ads etc but narrowing it down from there I’m stuck.
noahfineart 9 years ago
Paula, thanks for the comment. Regarding email, I had to look at how reading it takes time. Of what I read I didn’t use or need. I found that when checking twice daily I was only answering a couple of emails and they didn’t have to do with making money. It’s an interesting experiment and a very freeing one to try. You learn a lot when you only check twice daily. Then can get to once or twice weekly. I’m treating the same with notifications and text when I’m in production too. Hope this helps! Glad you’re here.