The first seeds for this whole intentional living lifestyle which I now find myself talking about really took root in early 2023, when I read the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This was a profoundly influential book for me, and really made me question whether I was living the lifestyle that I wanted. I began to realise that at the root of a productive and meaningful life for me was: good quality sleep, getting sunlight in the morning (to start my circadian rhythm), eating tasty home-cooked food, getting daily exercise and/or spending time in nature, and doing meaningful work.
Slowly, over the past few years, my outlook on life has changed. I now try to fit in as many of these activities into each day as possible. I feel great after a day of meaningful work, such as working on this website, but it does tire me out. So, I do let myself have “cheat days” or “cheat evenings” where I just chill out and relax. I can’t be constantly doing productive things! Yin and yang I guess. Of course, I’m not perfect, and there are days where I struggle to get done what I want to do. But I try to remain consistent, and in the long-term, this is what helps me to achieve my goals.
What I do in a typical day depends on whether I’m “working” or not. Working is a pretty ambiguous term to me. I could be working in my actual contracting job (i.e. earning money), or I could be doing more meaningful work to me, such as writing this blog and developing this website (although this doesn’t currently earn me any money).
Contract work days
When I’m doing contracting work, the day begins very early – I need to be in the office at either 05:30 or 04:30(!) It can be painful, but I find that as long as I go to bed early the previous evening (to allow 7.5hrs of good quality sleep), then I’m good. There is never time for a proper breakfast, so I’ll have a protein shake at the desk at work (although usually several hours after I start – I don’t have much appetite early in the morning). My days in the office are extremely busy, and there’s barely time to think before lunch. The afternoons are usually calmer, but there’s only about 1-2 hours left of the day following lunch before it’s over!
After work, I’ll usually either go to the gym or go for a run. If not then it’s likely I’ll be cooking dinner at home. (We batch cook everything, and I find it difficult to fit in gym and cooking in the same evening. Sometimes I’ll try and squeeze it all in though.) We might watch a bit of TV after dinner, or if the weather is nice, go for a walk. After this, I’ll try and get some reading in before bed. (I’ve managed to read more than a book a month on average so far this year, and that’s a pledge I intend to keep for the rest of my life.)
Weekends are usually a time for relaxation – to see friends or to visit my dad. Or to visit new places and explore the UK. I also try to get some more of my own work done on Sundays (writing blogs), as I find this to be a meaningful way to spend time. It’s not always possible, however – sometimes life gets in the way.
Non-contract work days
When I don’t have contracting work to do, I’ll still get up early (around 06:00), go for a walk straight away to wake myself up and get some sunlight (if the sun has risen by this time), and then come home for breakfast and possibly a bit of reading – or if I’m being lazy I might procrastinate on my phone for a bit. Either way, I’m usually at my computer and doing some productive work by about 08:00. Quite often I’m at the computer working by 07:30 or earlier. It feels great to be getting on with my day so early.
I’m definitely a morning person, and most of my productive work gets done before lunchtime. What I do after lunch depends on my mood. I’ll often go to the gym or head out for a run, but sometimes I’ll continue working through to 4 or 5 pm. Very occasionally, I’ll finish the day’s work early and take a few hours to just chill out. During the evening, I may be cooking and then chilling out watching my favourite TV. After dinner, I may sometime hop back on the computer and do some social media – I’m really trying to promote Slow Down and Save at the moment!
This represents a typical day for me, but of course occasionally other things happen too – for example social events with friends or colleagues. I feel like I’m really living my intentional life when I do good quality, meaningful work, spend time in nature, exercise, spend good quality time with my family, eat tasty home-cooked food and read a book. I have to say that writing it all down makes everything look less challenging, but it really is not easy making sure it all gets done! Being consistent with my intentional living goals is a lot harder than it at first seems.
Constant relaxation is not intentional living
I discovered this many years ago during the school holidays – but never came to terms with the idea until I was an adult. I get very restless unless I have planned activities during the day, and I feel a deep sense of uselessness and laziness when I spend more than one day ‘slacking’ – what I would call ‘doing nothing all day’ – maybe reading a book/ playing board games/ video games/ relaxing outside in the sun. I get a deep sense of satisfaction from knowing that I’m contributing to society – so a day where I’m doing very little feels wasted. Although, very occasionally, such days can be necessary to keep life sustainable!
My ideal life of intentional living contains a mix of meaningful work, exercise, cooking, reading, spending time outside and time with my family. There is no intentional time allocated to play video games or watch TV (although I do these things as well). It’s interesting to me that what many people think of as the ideal lifestyle – sitting on a beach reading a book and sipping a mojito – is actually not very appealing for more than a day. Humans were made to work – this is the source of an intentional life. Find the work that is meaningful to you and practise it as often as you can.
When you take time to think about it, you’ll probably come up with different goals for how to live your own intentional life. Everyone’s journey is different – just make sure you take the time to deeply consider how you’d like to live your own life and try your best every day to reach those goals. I’ve found that being consistent with small daily wins – even if I don’t always manage to get everything done that I want to – lays the foundations for longer-term growth.
Thanks for reading! What does an ideal day of intentional living look like for you?
Other articles you might enjoy…
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- Live a simple life and save a ton of money
- 14 ways to live an easy life
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