Could This Be The Year You Do What You Actually Want To Do?

If someone told you you had 2 hours every single day this year to do exactly what it was that you actually wanted to do, how would that feel?

What a luxury!

I can’t wait!

Can you imagine all of that time to indulge in my passions….

But wait what would I actually do?

I know that many of us feel super busy, stressed and overwhelmed and that we don’t have time, but would you believe that the average person spends over 2 hours every day on social media?

There is no judgement here, we all do it 🫣

At the beginning of the year I read an article by Oliver Burkeman for the Guardian called The secret to being happy in 2026? It’s far, far simpler than you think …

Fill You Plate Up With The Good Stuff

Burkeman argues that rather than aiming for self improvement, purchasing fancy equipment or apps that keep us off social media and help us be more efficient or productive, we instead fill our lives with the things that actually bring us pleasure, crowding out time spent scrolling.

If we are doing lots of the things that genuinely hold our attention, that keep us engaged and make us feel absorbed, then it wouldn’t even occur to us to even look for our phone.

This makes lots of sense to me

and is generally the rule I adopt for most things in life. For example, instead of saying I will never eat unhealthy food again, making something forbidden and ultimately more appealing. I would rather crowd my plate with the healthy stuff thus leaving less space for the things I want to consume less.

So this idea of filling our time with pleasurable endeavours ultimately leaves less space for the brain rotting activities we find so tempting in modern life.

Burkeman’s strategy entails figuring out what it is that truly captures your imagination and makes you feel engaged and awake and do lots more of it. And this is a strategy I am implementing more and more myself every year.

But what if you’re not sure what it is that makes you feel alive and engaged?

I would suggest that perhaps reversing this strategy and becoming more engaged and awake first might help.

It’s Not What You Do It’s The Way That You Do It

Have you ever noticed that some people are just happier and more relaxed than others?

They aren’t the richest people, or the people with lots of time to indulge in their passions.

But they are content, calm, they make the most of things and seem to take life in their stride.

So what is their secret? I don’t think we really know. It could be down to genetics, their upbringing, the community they live in, or really good habits that they have gotten into.

But wouldn’t it be nice to cultivate some of this ourselves? A zest for life, an appreciation of the small things, a presence in the world.

Well I think we can, and it might be quite easy.

My grandad, who is sadly no longer with us, loved a cup of tea - first thing in the morning, with every meal and one before bed, as well as many more throughout the day. But no matter how many times he had a cuppa he would always take the first sip and go “Aaaaah! Lovely cup of tea.”

When we think of engaging in more pleasurable pursuits we may think of things like more tropical holidays, hiking in the mountains, going to the theatre, or finding a new hobby. But what about things that take mere seconds peppered throughout our day? That first sip of tea. Breathing in the fresh air as we step out of the house. Noticing the feeling of the sun on our face for just a second. A stranger smiling at us.

Yes filling our lives with more pleasurable activities can make us feel more alive but what if we made our lives feel more pleasurable on the whole? And realised we are already alive?

By becoming more awake to the very small moments of the everyday we may start to notice things about our environment and ourselves that we had never noticed before. By noticing the patch of flowers that grow in your local park you may realise that you would quite like to grow something as pretty in your garden or on your window ledge, by hearing singing coming from the local community centre you might realise that you quite fancy joining a choir, or through enjoying the walk to the bus stop you discover that you would like to start hiking at the weekends.

Do you remember the film Runaway Bride? What a great film!

Maggie Carpenter (played by Julia Roberts) doesn’t know how she likes her eggs cooked as she has always adopted the style that her previous fiancés preferred. She only realises this when it is brought to her attention that she doesn’t know her own tastes by Richard Gere’s character in the film. She then goes on a quest trying all different kinds of eggs and discovers that she loves eggs Benedict and actually hates all the other types.

The eggs represent her discovering her authentic self but she had to wake up first and start paying attention to the different kinds of eggs she was eating.

You might think that knowing what kind of eggs you like is insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but imagine getting through your whole life without eating something you find delicious!

Take The Pressure Off

I sometimes worry that we are becoming afraid of ourselves and the choices we make.

“Stay busy, fill your time, lock your phone away, buy this device that removes distractions

because if left to our own devices we will all lie in bed scrolling social media eating chocolate digestives all day.”

Yes these things are invented to tempt us (big time!). But if we go looking for absorbing hobbies in order to stop us from scrolling I feel like we are giving our technology far too much power. And making finding a hobby another thing that we think we have to do and perhaps fail at by next month.

If, instead, we come from the stance that our lives can be pleasurable and engaging just as they are and we just need to notice, then we may actually discover new joys.

We will probably discover that we all actually are drawn to other humans more than phones. That we get great satisfaction from connection, green spaces, and communal activities like singing and dancing. And that big plates of home cooked food are really delicious.

We can start small, slowly and gently to reclaim our attention rather than blocking out and running from distraction. We don’t need big plans and projects right away.

Living a more mindful life leads to a life of more presence, thus being more awake.

And remember that being more mindful is really just noticing.

So wake up, make your favourite eggs and sit down and enjoy them 🍳