What does your week look like? Do you have a lot of stuff to do? Are you taking time off? Do you have errands to run? How do you organize what you have to do for the day?

Maybe you’re using an app (e.g. Todoist, Apple calendar, Trello, Evernote, Google calendar), a paper & pencil organizer, or maybe you rely on a mental to-do list in your head.

There are so many ways to organize our day; there are even Time Coaches that help you to make the best of your day. So many systems have developed around these ideas (e.g. Getting Things Done, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Deep Work, The 4-hour Workweek). And these days, artificial intelligence may even answer questions about how to set tasks for our day.

All those approaches, in general, are focused on accomplishing goals and checking tasks off from a to-do list. But, is our life all about getting things done? Is our life centered around productivity?

Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely necessary to complete tasks, and we definitely need to keep track of them, I just don’t think it’s everything. A well-lived, rich, and intentional life is also about creating meaning and purpose in different areas of our lives and nurturing ourselves as we move forward.

So, here is one of the ways I approach my day when things get ultra-busy:

• I choose a value-based activity for the day
  There are different areas of our lives that we care about – relationships, career, personal growth, spirituality, health – and nurturing them allow us to have richer, fulfilling, and expansive lives.

• I choose one instrumental activity I have to do
  There are all types of errands we have to do – paying bills, doing laundry, mopping the floor, mailing stuff, and many more. And as much as we may not like them, not doing them may be a relief in the moment, but later on, is a recipe for stress.

• I choose one self-care activity that is soothing
  Our lives also require fun, enjoyable, pleasurable stuff to reset our brain, recharge, and replenish our energy.

So, putting this approach into action, looks like this:

• One value-based activity for the day
  Nurturing my relationships is important, so I choose to call a friend in my home country, Bolivia.

• One instrumental activity I have to do.
  Doing grocery shopping.

• One self-care activity that is soothing
  Being close to the ocean has always been soothing for me; so a bike ride close to the water allows me to feel the smells, appreciate the view, move my body and disconnect a bit.

This is not the perfect way to organize your day, but one way that maybe helpful when feeling overwhelmed looking at the long list of things you have to do. I sometimes use this approach for day-to-day life and use other platforms for large projects.