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Welcome to season 3 of Design Lessons!

Season 3 is special because it is focused on you. It will give you the opportunity to focus on one specific area of your life that you would like to make just a little bit better.

Grab Your Project You 30 Day Planner and let’s get started.

Share your experience with Project You

Hey Designers,

You have done it! You have completed 30 days in your Project You 30 day Action Planner. You have created a micro-design to overhaul one area of your life.

This first experience is invaluable. You have collected so much data in the course of your experiment, and this episode is going to help you make sense of it all and help you make some decisions about what to do next.

If you have not been following along with Project You, I encourage you to start with episode 41. And also stick around because we are entering the reflection stage and reflection is tool that help you design a life that you love waking up to. Reflection is the key to making the changes in your life that are going to fulfill the vision that you have for yourself.

Over the last 30 days you have been playing with a new routine or a new environment. You’ve been forming a new habit that with consistency becomes automatic.

You have collected data that will help shape where you go next.

As you might remember, my micro design for this round of Project You focused on creating space in my mornings to ease into to the day. I knew from previous LEADER rounds that 7 hours of sleep is my sweet spot for having a good day and also having a few hours before work to reflect, record what I was grateful for, to write and to move helped me to ease into the rest of my day.

To make that happen I created an evening routine checklist that I thought would help me have more time in my mornings. I added some of those routine tasks like making my lunch to the evenings to free up time in the mornings. I also gave myself a bedtime and added a routine that signaled to my mind and body that is was time to wind down.

So now I’m going to look back at my 30 days and ask myself 3 questions that will help me to determine my next steps. Do this along with me to reflect on your 30 days.

4 Questions ot Support Reflection

Question 1: Did I achieve what I set out to achieve with this design?
My goal for my design was to create space in the mornings for journaling, exercise, sitting on the back porch with my husband with a cup of coffee, and time to work on resources for you. In the empathy phase, I established that this was important to me because I tended to have a level 10 day when I had time in the morning for reflection, planning, and connection.
For me, I would say that overall that the checklist that I created for myself helped me to get to bed on time most nights of the week. As a result, I had time in the morning to ease into my day. What did you find?
Question 2: What would I change if I could do it all again?
If everything went as planned your instinct may be to say, “All is good; I wouldn’t change a thing.” However, this is an opportunity to really look back at the last 30 days. Did your little rewards help to give you the boost to keep you consistent? Do you need the boost moving forward? Has this now become a habit? Did this change that you made highlight another area you would like to focus on?
Take a moment to journal about the last 30 days. Write yourself a letter.
When I asked myself this question it pointed to a way I could refine my design. Since I was paying attention during this design to how I was feeling each day and how strongly that seems linked to my easy mornings, I noticed that sometimes I felt a little tension in my morning.
In essence, I had too many expectations for my morning. Based on the experiment I realized that yes I need the time in the morning to ease into my day and yes I want to exercise, talk to my husband over morning coffee, yes I wanted to take time to express my gratitude for life in my journal, yes I wanted to work on resources for you. But I found that I couldn’t really do all of that each day. All are important to me. But If I were to do another round, I would lower my expectations to fit it all in every day. I would keep exercise and gratitude time as staples and have planning time be flexible—try out having planning time only 2-3 days of the week. So that my coffee time with Christian could be even more leisurely. On those days I would move the planning time to the afternoon. There are many tweaks and possibilities that I could try.
So back to you…what would you change if you could do it all again?
Question 3: What realizations did I have?
This question focused on what aha moments you had. I went on a cruise in the middle of this project. I was totally unplugged for 7 days. I had no responsibilities. Most importantly I gave myself permission not to do anything. It was the most restful vacation that I have ever had. I didn’t have to worry about anything. Everything was pre-paid or already planned. I didn’t have to make any decisions.
This break in my routine got me thinking how can I make more decision-free zones? How can I preplan and make decisions automatic? Decision fatigue is real. This may be my next design.
Question 4: What do you want to focus on next or do you want to refine your current design?
This question is what helps you to understand the LEADER mindset. Life is about progress, not perfection. It is about being mindful of what makes you content and what brings you stress. It is about designing the life that you want to wake up to every day. That comes from listening to yourself, to your mind and your body and having empathy, and figuring out what is important to you and why it is important to you.
To determine whether to refine this current area of your life even further. Ask yourself whether further refinement will make you happier? If you were building a habit, are you at the automatic stage yet?
Choose whether to refine this design further or focus on another area of your life.
The LEADER mindset and framework is about experimentation and refinement.
You will never have a perfect life. No one can predict the future. But you can craft a life experience for yourself that is fulfilling and honors what you hold dear. You can choose to LEAD your own life.
Remember you are Designing a Life Made for You.
Until next time designers