I’ve always liked putting things into two-hour blocks.
A movie fits into a two-hour block.
So does an afternoon reading by the fire in a beautiful hotel lobby.
A great lunch with someone you enjoy.
Nine holes of golf.
Or sitting somewhere with a notebook, dreaming up a big scheme and trying to crack the code on an interesting marketing puzzle.
Those are some of the things that have brought me joy for more than 30 years.
And the thing I’ve realized is that most of them don’t require a dramatic change in your life.
You don’t need a two-week vacation.
You don’t need to wait until you retire.
You don’t even need a completely free day.
A surprising amount of joy can fit into a two-hour block.
But first you have to know what you’d put there.
That’s why I think it’s so valuable to make an inventory of all the things that reliably bring you joy.
your calendar starts to look less like a prison sentence and more like a menu
Once you see them written down, your calendar starts to look less like a prison sentence and more like a menu.
You can look at the week ahead and ask:
“What could I order from my joy menu this week?”
For me, Sunday night movies have become one of those rituals.
Thirty years ago, it was watching a movie with my friends Tim and Darlene, either at their place or ours.
Today, Josh and Diane from my office come over and we watch movies.
Different people. Different place. Same joyful ritual.
And there’s a second layer of joy that comes from knowing it’s on the calendar.
You don’t just enjoy the movie on Sunday night. You get to enjoy knowing all week that Sunday night is coming.
I think that’s one of the overlooked advantages of scheduling the things that bring you joy.
You get the anticipation.
Then you get the experience.
And later, you get the memory.
That’s a pretty good return on a two-hour investment.
So take a look at your calendar right now.
Is there one two-hour block this week that you could claim for something that brings you joy?
Choose something from the menu.
Then make a reservation with yourself.