Design Your Ideal Week
Sketch the week as you'd ideally live it, then steer your real schedule toward it.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 80%
Designing your ideal week means sketching the week as you would ideally live it — the work week and the weekend — because the week is the cycle of life as we actually live it. Vanderkam notes that an ideal-day exercise can't capture the good things that happen only once or twice a week, like waking early to exercise twice, whereas an ideal week can. You name the big things you want and their general time frames (work out three times, talk to friends five times), then keep that picture in mind as you schedule real life. The deeper move is building in recurring moments to step outside the flow of passing time and make conscious choices.
Origin
Vanderkam developed the ideal-week exercise as a step up from the more common ideal-day thinking, arguing the week better mirrors the real rhythm of life including things that recur only a few times a week.
Core principles
- 01The week, not the day, is the true cycle of life as we actually live it.
- 02Some good things happen once or twice a week, not daily, so only a weekly view can hold them.
- 03Naming your ideal in advance empowers you to steer your real schedule closer to it.
- 04You must periodically step outside the flow of time to make conscious choices about it.
How to run it
- 1
Picture the whole week
Imagine an ideal week spanning both the work week and an ideal weekend, not just a single ideal day.
Pro tip The week captures things you'd like once or twice a week that an ideal day can't represent.
- 2
Name your big things and time frames
Specify the big things you want and roughly when: work out three times a week in the morning, talk to friends five times.
Pro tip Use general time frames rather than rigid slots so it stays a guide, not a straitjacket.
- 3
Steer your real schedule toward it
Keep the ideal week in mind as you schedule your actual life so reality drifts closer to the ideal.
- 4
Step outside the flow regularly
Build in recurring times (weekly planning) to pull yourself out of the constant flow and make conscious choices.
Pro tip When you just move from thing to thing it's very hard to direct time; scheduled reflection restores agency.
In the wild
Someone wants to wake up early to exercise twice a week — impossible to represent in an ideal day, but easy to place in an ideal week alongside the rest of their rhythm.
→ Mapping it at the weekly level lets them build a realistic picture of the life they'll actually live and schedule toward it.
Common mistakes
Planning only an ideal day
An ideal day can't hold activities that recur just once or twice a week, so it misrepresents the real rhythm of life.
Never stepping outside the flow
Without scheduled reflection you move reactively from thing to thing and lose the ability to consciously direct your time.
Is it for you?
Best for
People who want to live more intentionally and align their real schedule with their values over time.
Not ideal for
Those seeking a rigid fixed schedule; the ideal week is a directional guide, not a strict timetable.
From the transcript
“an ideal a week is the cycle of life as we actually live it so thinking about the whole of the week allows you both…”
“by thinking about how you'd like to spend your time you empower yourself to get your actual schedule closer to it”
From the episode
Laura Vanderkam: Smarter Ways to WFH (Work From Home)
Laura Vanderkam