The 3x planning model for home and life
How often do we stop and assess our relationship with “doing” and adding on more to our tasks week after week? Where does the drive for doing more and more come from? When did it start? Just like a pendulum, this need for doing can be seen on an imaginary scale.
Sometimes, we may feel completely unmotivated to do or simply not have the capacity to maintain any more tasks than the basics. Other times, we may feel supercharged to do more or perhaps too much more if we don’t add parameters and get clear on our “why”. Staying somewhere in the middle is the hope for this post.
If we take a look at any number of things done in a day – meals to cook, things to donate, bills to pay, meetings and deadlines, calls to return, spaces to organize, people to care for and appointments to schedule, it can all feel like too much all at once even if they are positive and helpful tasks in our life.
What is mine to do?
When done mindlessly on a hamster wheel, we lose touch with the intention and potential for reward with each task. When done without boundaries, it can feel like sinking into quicksand where our basic needs for self-care start to disappear leaving us depleted.
To balance out either extreme, before scheduling any new tasks, it’s a helpful practice to decide: “What is truly mine to do?” This question helps eliminate tasks that are simply add-ons. Once you know what is yours to do, you can begin using this simple model to bring foresight to your home and life planning.
The 3x method
3 days: Aside from pre-scheduled appointments, when it comes to tasks in the week ahead, consider giving yourself a healthy 3-day window to check things off your list for that week. Not only will you feel less stress around checking off a box, you may also notice something may need to be rescheduled or rearranged to make room for the unexpected.
3 weeks: Now think a little farther ahead as to what is coming up for you in 3 weeks time. What do you expect to have completed? Which key tasks for home and life need to be addressed so you can have a smooth month? Who needs to be informed or brought into the picture to make sure everyone is on the same page?
3 months: As you are plugging in reminders and tasks for the 3 week period, you'll also get a helpful heads-up about what to look forward to in the quarter ahead. You can make a list of bucket list items, hopes, home/work expectations, and any big life changes coming up within 3 months.
What I love about this model is it helps me avoid the feeling of being “stuck”. I get to see how my life is flowing through days and experiences, with a deeper appreciation for how things will change soon enough. I can focus on my day and develop an healthy resolve to move through my next 3 weeks and 3 months with hope and intention.
You can work on this process to plan out your 3 day, 3 week, and 3 month blocks in any notebook or your Seeking Jannah Planner.
