My day planner follows Cal Newport’s Time-Block Planner method, with a twist.
Every morning I open my notebook and draw three vertical lines to create four columns. I fill the first column with numbers that represent hours – 6 am to 11 pm.
I fill the third column with what I plan to do: shower, write, read, clean, have lunch with a friend, go for an errand, etc. If I divert from the original plan, by web surfing aimlessly, for example, I make corrections in the fourth column.
What about the second column?
That’s where I plan how to be.
I plan to be happy at 8 am. By 11 am I plan to elevate my status a notch to be joyful.
In the afternoon I plan to fill my heart with kindness. Later in the day, I prepare myself for the evening by being calm.
My planner originally didn’t have a column for planning how to be but only one for planning what to do.
But one day I thought … Isn’t my state of being as important as my actions? Can’t I choose how to be? Can I plan to be happy rather than angry? Can I plan to be joyful rather than sad? How about I plan to be kind rather than hateful?
It’s been a little over a year since I added this column. I’m far from anger-free, but I feel a little more empowered than before.
It is a lot easier to be joyful if the sun is shining on my face. But I no longer blame the gray sky, because even when the sky is dark, I’m capable to be joyful.
Being able to choose how to be, is liberating.