Life System Development
WORK IN PROGRESS! So don’t judge too heavily.
Introduction
If you look up life system development/design, you might find people detailing their systems to make their life more productive, so that they may get more work done.
- https://reading.supply/@tk/designing-my-lifes-system-wz2n5J
- https://zerotomastery.io/courses/life-system-design/
This is not my focus, I more care about the fundamental things in life. I believe in doing things with intention, and that if you design a system intentionally, it will free up mental energy as well as time for you to be able to focus on other things, or be able to be more in the moment.
Routine vs System
Routine is hard because the reason for its effectiveness is also what can make it psychologically taxing. Breaking a streak can provide motivation to keep it going when you don’t feel like it in the moment, but it can also can cause you to punish yourself when you break the streak and to make it harder to start again.
It’s important to note that a little is better than nothing.
In a system, you have fallbacks. This is something that you should have as a backup option that requires far less effort and thought. For food this may look like always having boxed mac n’ cheese or something similar on hand. Having fallbacks allows you to respond to your energy/motivation levels in the day. Maybe your fallback is ordering food from a restaurant, it all depends on your goals/preferences.
Systems
The following sections are the various systems that I believe every person should have developed. The depth of which the systems are developed may vary from person to person depending on priorities, but I believe that a good, healthy, fulfilling life targets these things.
Cooking/Eating
- It takes mental energy:
- to think about what you want to cook (meal planning)
- to track grocery lists and buy items (grocery planning)
- to consider the macros of your everyday diet (nutritional planning)
- Then it takes physical and mental energy to cook at the end of all of that
- Find a repertoire of nutritious, easy-to-cook, cheap meals
- You don’t have to cook everything from scratch, you can combine a number of pre-made components together
Socializing/Relationships
- Keeping and making friends
- Staying in touch with family & friends
- Finding and creating community
- Gift giving
- It can be hard to remember to get gifts for birthdays, holidays, etc.
Exercise
There is so much research showing that a little bit of daily exercise has immense health benefits. Not even particularly strenuous exercise either.
- Reddit or other resources to copy an evidence-based routine
- Set aside a certain amount of time or stack it with something else
- No matter what you will probably be tired before a workout, but endorphins usually will wake you up
- Or just take pre-workout (caffeine + vitamins/aminos)
Fashion/Style
- capsule wardrobe