Frequency

Some things I want to do as infrequently as possible, even though they’re essential. Car insurance, for example, often has the ability to pay for six months at once as opposed to making it a monthly bill; I always choose that option. Apart from usually getting a small discount, I just like not thinking about it for longer.

You can’t do that with everything, of course. Some things are essential, but you can’t do them in bulk. You could pay all your bills for the year on January 1st if you had the cash, and that would be great. But you can’t call your mother 52 times on January 1st instead of once a week (and why are you only calling your mother once a week, anyway?!).

Side note: Unfortunately, eating appears to be one of those things you have to do every day, instead of in bulk. I really wish I could eat like a snake – just swallow a whole deer, sleep for two days, and then not worry about eating again for a month.

The point is that since there are many things you’ll have to do on a regular basis, you should make those things enjoyable. You shouldn’t view those things as chores. You should, as best as you can, find ways to be proud of them, or enjoy them, or combine them. For instance, you have to clean your house every day. You also have to play with your kids every day. So hey, make cleaning up the house a game you play with your kids!

These little maintenance things aren’t tasks to get through in order to live your life; they are your life. Knowing that, try to choose tasks that you can find ways to enjoy. And all the ones you can do in bulk and just get them out of the way? Do so! Remove extra stressors and decisions from your life so you can give more mental energy to enjoying the things you have to do anyway.

Craft your life in such a way as to enjoy it. If you aren’t, break it. There’s no deeper prize, so tune the radio to the station you want to listen to, you know?