Can you design a new life?

Once you suspect that it’s time for some significant changes, the next thing is to step back and look at other ways of approaching the things that are preventing you from experiencing the life you want.

One of the resources I’ve come across recently that has challenged me to think differently and helped me navigate what I actually want at this point in my life is Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’ book, Designing Your Life.

The basic premise is that you can approach many of your work and lifestyle dissatisfactions as design challenges. I’ve never considered myself a designer, but the book takes the position that design is not a mysterious gift you’re either born with or not. Design is a process you can learn and apply. And if you’re willing to think about your challenges like a designer, you can design solutions that work for you. Worth a try, no?

The book starts by defining what does and doesn’t fit the category of a design problem. In short: a design problem is one that has many possible solutions, meaning you can repeatedly change the approach and solution until you arrive at something that works for you. Anything that has an outcome you can’t change (like gravity), isn’t a design problem and should be set aside.

The book then guides you through a series of exercises and assessments to help you structure your thoughts about how things are currently working (or not) in your life; assess which are the greatest priority for you; the extent to which these priorities align with your personality; and start thinking about your desired outcomes so that you can not only design your route into the type of life that you want, but do so in a way that will work for you.

Some of the exercises might be familiar (mind maps), others are a twist on something you may have seen before (Odyssey plans) and some unfamiliar, such as the task of expressing a work view and life view in just 250 words each, then trying to combine them. This is something I thought I’d fly through but ended up taking the most time to get right.

Together, the sequences of exercises and guiding questions offer a clear process to work through with the aim of uncovering things you haven’t considered to help you get clarity on solutions that will work for you.

It’s only fair to acknowledge some hesitation: I initially told no-one I was reading this book. Partly because admitting to an undertaking that risks being cosily nestled in the Venn diagram of personal development and notions can be deeply awkward for an Irish person. And partly because, well, what if I didn’t get anything out of it? What if I did everything the book suggested, and came up with nothing?

Thankfully, that didn’t happen (and now I’m revealing all in this article – progress!). But I think it didn’t happen for a very important reason. I was vigilant about setting aside sceptical thoughts and really held myself accountable to approaching Designing Your Life with an open mind, even when it didn’t always feel comfortable to do so. To keep myself going whenever I felt resistant to some of the ideas proposed, it helped to keep in mind the maxim: The road that got you here won’t get you where you want to go next.

I read Designing Your Life all the way through, highlighting and jotting down ideas or phrases that resonated with me along the way. I did the exercises, writing everything out with a pen and paper. It took time – not just an hour, not just a day. I had to think about it and come back to it. I procrastinated. Tidied the kitchen. Skimmed through the internet. Did other things. But still, I came back to it.

The result? Among other things, I realised that I really wanted to redesign my life to spend more time with family and friends, start writing professionally, and pursue other work and interests that really matter to me.

I’m still working on exactly how it will all fit together, but the fact that you’re reading this at all is evidence of design thinking put into action.

Why not give it a go and see where it takes you?