LIFE, DESIGNED

This is sort of a homework assignment I gave to myself. (And a bit of a different type of post from my usual, just a heads up!)

I spent a good chunk of the past year thinking about how to structure my life, and also wandering around the internet having a lot of "I wish that was my life!" moments. Between the two, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with choices and a bit defeated about my lack of direction.

I got the idea for this project from an unknown designer (if anyone has heard something similar, I'd love to know who said this!). This designer said to truly be a designer, you must design all aspects of your life: your work, play, clothes, home, and even your speech.

This idea really appealed to me, so I posed the question to myself: if you designed your life, what life would it be?

MY LIFE, DESIGNED

ENVIRONMENT

Find a new apartment that prioritizes window space and lighting. Done!
Develop a space that maximizes productivity, relaxation, and a sense of well-being.

Create a separate quiet workspace besides the bed and reserve the bed for non-work activities.

Build up our house plant collection and learn how to properly care for them.

WARDROBE

Edit my closet down to only those items that I love and feel awesome in. (Some ideas here, here, and here)

Invest in curated and well-made pieces occasionally to build up a great closet.

DIET

Shift the bulk of what I eat to fruits and vegetables. (Inspired by Michael Pollan, of course!)

Invest in a juicer, once we have the space.

Subscribe to a CSA and actually utilize the things in it. (Thinking about this one, but would love some San Francisco recommendations!)

Get myself to try lots of recipes until I build up a collection of ones I love. (Thanks to the Minimalist Baker for easing me away from my cooking-induced anxiety.)

EXERCISE

Create an exercise plan that makes me feel great.

Stick to it.
Build up my practice of yoga.

WORK

Take my time and properly learn the skills that I need and want to master.

• Painting techniques & portraiture
• Product photography & operating my DSLR (Just signed up for this class, so excited!)
• Marketing & promotion
• Using Adobe Creative Suite (I loved Meg Lewis's Intro to Photoshop Skillshare)
• Editing my novel
• Hindi
• Calligraphy & hand-lettering (I adored Molly Jacques' Skillshare as an intro!)

Seek out mentors in the fields of painting, art, small business owners, authors.
Find a great community of creative people to get inspired by and participate in. (Working on it! Here and here.)
Start myself on a career path that I feel excited and confident about.

FOR FUN
Take time to visit wonderful and beautiful places nearby and farther away.

Get to know San Francisco really well.

Be intentional about staying in contact with friends and family.

Splurge on great and inspiring books and magazines. (Possibly this one?)

Do something fun and out of the ordinary every weekend.

Get outside more!

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with this list, but I keep coming back to it, and it always makes me feel more centered. Maybe I'll add to it, maybe I'll substract from it, or maybe I'll just annotate it. I'd love to come back to it this time next year, and see where I took it.

What types of things would you put on your "Life, Designed" list?

xo Diana