Productivity is a funky topic now.

There’s hundreds of productivity books, gurus, and philosophies — it can all feel a bit too much.

And even a bit counter-productive.

Over the past 3 years, I’ve jumped on the bandwagon on my own search to find the “secret” to doing more. This meant reading books, listening to podcasts, and browsing online articles. I even tried comparing notes with my med school friends, who are masters of cramming but not necessarily long-term productivity. Did I find it?

Not even close.

But then one day, I came across Ali Abdaal’s definition of productivity in a podcast:

“Productivity isn’t really about getting more things done, it’s mostly about learning to enjoy the journey”

This new perspective struck a chord.

Abdaal doesn’t see productivity as a destination. Instead, it’s a life-long journey that requires life-long adjustments. And being more productive isn’t about how much we can do, but more about designing our lives around what matters to us.

So the question begs, how can we do that?

The Ideal Week

Let’s play a quick game.

Imagine yourself in the future. You are living your best life. You have a career that provides you meaning and fulfillment. You are surrounded by people you love. You have a healthy lifestyle and also engage in the activities and hobbies that stay true to you. Maybe you are already living this life. If so, that’s awesome. Maybe you’re far from it. If so, that’s also totally fine. The idea here is to take a step back and imagine a life you see yourself at your very best.

Now let’s take this a step further. Grab a pen and paper.

Picture how a typical week looks in this life. When do you wake up? What do you do when you wake up? When do you go to work? What do you work with? How long is a typical work day? What activities do you do later in the day? Do you engage in certain hobbies? When do you go to sleep? Write down exactly the activities you do in a daily, or even better, an hourly basis.

And what’s the purpose of all this?

The idea here is to pinpoint the exact activities and actions that make an ideal life for you. Remember, it’s not your identity that defines you. It’s the actions and behaviors you take on a daily basis. Instead of asking ourselves, “how do I want to live a more productive, meaningful life?”, the ideal week exercise allows us to ask a better, more actionable question, “what activities, behaviors and actions am I taking to live a more productive, meaningful life?”

As Abdaal describes it:

“Designing a life that works for you, not chasing a one-size-fits-all “hustle” culture.”

The Big Disconnect

When I first did the ideal week exercise, I noticed something immediately:

My ideal week looked nothing like my existing week. It’s easy to get caught up with the chaos of life. It’s easy to think that we are taking the steps towards our goals and doing the things we truly wanted.

But that’s not always the case.

I was a medical student, trying to balance my health, relationships, hobbies, love-life and personal goals. I was convinced I was making the steps towards the right direction. I was convinced that I was taking the actions that would lead to reaching my goals.

But in reality, I was struggling.

Although this was discouraging at first, it turned to be incredibly insightful.

What I learnt from this was crucial: I was not living the life I promised myself. And more importantly, I was not living a life I truly valued. No wonder the goals I set out earlier in the year have not progressed. No wonder despite feeling productive, I really wasn’t. I simply wasn’t putting in the time.

And the disconnect between my ideal week and current week was the biggest evidence of it.

This is where change happens.

At this point, I made a decision. I made the decision to make the small changes in my life so that I can start taking the steps towards my goals, and towards what I valued. And it began by using the ideal week as the framework.

Remember, the ideal week is not an instruction manual for exactly how each day should look like. But rather, the backbone you can rely on to make sure that you are moving towards your goals.

And ultimately, to live a meaningful life.

Now it’s your turn.

Take a pen and paper, or open up your calendar. Imagine your ideal week. Think of the different areas of life you value. Think of the goals you want to achieve. And think of the activities that will get you there. Now create your ideal week from Monday to Sunday, day by day — hour by hour.

In the end, you should see something like this (this is my ideal week I created so in most cases, yours should look completely different):

The next step simple: start working towards it.

Your ideal life starts today.