How to Reliably Architect a “Good Day”
Photo credit: Me, myself and I
TL/DR:
Getting something one step closer to where it needs to go beats waiting until you have time to do the whole thing (which may never happen anyway)
It works for physical objects and for stalled projects that feel too big to start.
Harvard researchers tracked 12,000 workday diary entries and found visible progress on meaningful work was the biggest driver of a “good day”. Not promotions. Not breakthroughs.
Pick the thing you've procrastinated longest, take the smallest possible next step, then notice how you feel.
The Whole Shebang:
There’s a collection of used cups and empty La Croix cans (actually, Kirkland Signature brand because I’m frugal AF) on the armoire outside my bedroom door. And there’s a pack of dry pasta at the bottom of the stairs. (Photos for evidence!)
It’s not clutter (at least to me) because I put them there purposefully.
Why?
Well, because I’m getting the things one step closer than they used to be, to where they need to eventually go. And doing it this way helps me move things along without much discernable effort.
You see, this morning, those cans and cups, they were on my bedside table. And the pasta was in the pantry (which, annoyingly, in my house, is downstairs, while the kitchen is upstairs). And the next time I’m going upstairs, I’ll see the cans, the cups, and the pasta, and I’ll bring them upstairs which is one step closer to the kitchen.
And when I go back downstairs, I’ll likely notice something that I’ve put at the top of the stairs because it needs to go downstairs. And so it goes.
You see, getting things one step closer to where they need to go helps me feel like I’m not doing anything, while I’m actually doing quite a bit to make my life easier.
There are other ways this type of process manifests in my life, too. Take packing for a trip, for instance. About a week before a trip, I’ll start dropping stuff I know I want to pack, as I see it, onto a particular chair in my house. As something comes out of the laundry, it goes onto the chair. If, in the closet, I happen to see the sunscreen, I grab it an throw it on the chair. Then, by the time it’s actually time to pack, the packing is about 85% done. I just check the things off the list as I’m putting them in the suitcase, and then go looking for the other 15%. As such, packing turns from a brutal chore to something that really didn’t take a whole lot of effort.
And this thing is, this doesn’t work only with physical objects it’s a solid strategy for projects as well, especially if you happen to get overwhelmed by big, many-faceted projects.
Let me give you a very specific example from my personal life. So, since last August (yes, 2025), I’ve had some inexplicable tailbone pain. Every time I move from seated to standing, my tailbone hurts. And if I have to sit in a hard chair, OMG, just leave me alone because I’m IN PAIN. (I’m writing this from an airplane right now, and I’m sitting on butt pillow with a hole in it for my tailbone that I now must regularly travel with.)
In any case, it’s bad. And no one know’s what’s going on. I’ve had a butt x-ray, a butt MRI and a very unpleasant “internal exam”. Next step: pelvic PT because, well, what have I got to lose!? And, as anyone who lives in the US knows, trying to find a specialist that takes your insurance AND is taking new patients AND has availability sometime this decade is, well, quite a herculean task.
So, I’m taking the “one step closer” approach, to make it less difficult.
First step: I emailed my OB/GYN to get a list of her preferred providers.
Next: Call each one. Maybe I’ll call a few at once. Maybe, I’ll call one at a time. Either way, I’ll be one step closer.
And I swear this doesn’t work just for me and me alone! In fact, one of my coaching clients told me recently, once she started taking this approach, that the task that had been haunting her for 6 WHOLE MONTHS (“find a therapist for my son”) was handled in only 6 days.
And it didn’t feel that hard. In fact, it felt pretty damn good.
Does it work for work tasks too?
You betcha! (To quote my Minnesotan grandma.)
In addition to making your life easier, without a lot of effort, you're also giving your brain something it actually wants: evidence of progress. Harvard researchers tracked 12,000 workday diary entries and found that the single biggest driver of a “good day” wasn't a promotion or a big win or a breakthrough. It was making visible progress on something that mattered. Small steps aren't a consolation prize. They're the whole mechanism. You do one. You feel good. It makes you want to do a bit more. Or at least, it lowers the negative anticipation of doing the next thing.
Wanna give it a shot?
Think of that task that you’ve been procrastinating the longest. I’ll wait.
Ok, got it? Great.
Now, what’s the smallest next step you could take that would get you closer to the finish line? Do you need to send an email? Open a document? Do a Google search? Ask Claude?
Whatever it is, do it. And then ask yourself:
“How easy was that? And how much better do you feel?”
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