GTL: Revisited

There are two primary factors contributing to my appreciation. One: I like the idea of establishing an achievable baseline for a daily sense of accomplishment. Too many days I find myself — and everyone I interact with — lamenting: “I’ve not done enough work.” This stems from to-do lists full of activities like ‘start problem set’ and ‘work on JP’ that I no doubt need to complete but aren’t unique to the day in question. As the days draw to a close, I never feel as if I’ve done enough because I’m always thinking of what the next step is. The principle of GTL offers a remedy to the feeling of inadequate work completion. It doesn’t say that nothing else is to be done, just that completing these three distinct activities meets a baseline for considering a day productive.

I think a mindset such as this promotes a healthier approach to life. Much of the work we do — and much of the work in life — lasts over many days. Attempting to define the success of our days in reference to how much we’ve accomplished on projects with a completely elastic time frame and work requirement leaves far too much room for an overly stringent and self-deprecating sense of inadequacy. Laying out such a universal daily baseline would encourage one to more often view days as a success and would make any amount of work toward the completion of ongoing projects a bonus of productivity and accomplishment.

Two: I like that the GTL principle doesn’t focus on work. The activities it defines are toward an end of personal satisfaction and betterment, not the completion of work. We ought to define our daily success in reference to the things we’ve done for personal happiness, growth and recreation. It’s a good reminder to define the terms of success in our life more broadly than just schoolwork or career trajectories.

However, as much as I like the concept of GTL, I wouldn’t pick gym, tan, laundry as my own three activities. So, in that I rejected the Jersey Shore’s regimen, I went about defining my own: BRO.

1. Bed. Make your bed every morning. It takes five minutes to do and can change your entire day. It makes you feel better and more prepared to start your morning. You were responsible enough and had enough time to make your bed before leaving; you’re on your game. You feel better getting home because your room looks more put together. Plus, making the bed makes any room look neater — an easy way to impress anyone who drops by.

2. Read. Every night, before bed. Turning to a book helps you to transition out of schoolwork-oriented, analytical thinking — the part of your mind that wants to keep planning the work you need to finish tomorrow — and into a more passive and imaginative mindset. It helps quiet your thinking so that you fall into a deeper sleep faster. Plus, I think reading fictional works helps you have cooler dreams.

3. Outside. Go outside for some purely recreational reason at least once every day. Toss a Frisbee, take a sunbath, garden — whatever it is, just get outside for some purpose other than transportation. No matter what the weather is like or where you are, there is something to be found even on a short walk that pulls your focus into the present moment.

There you have it: BRO. Taking what I like from GTL — a program that allows you to feel good about your day by completing simple, non-academic tasks — but fleshing it out with activities I embrace with more enthusiasm than ‘gym, tan, laundry.’

Perhaps, though, BRO doesn’t do it for you. Any such system of concrete, daily, personal goals ought to have the same effect, regardless of the components that make it. The important part of this system is not the individual activities it is comprised of, but the concept behind it. The goal is to set out a daily to-do list of tasks that are discrete, easy and — most importantly — valuable to you. Adopting any BRO-type program helps one to embrace a healthier, more positive personal attitude. So chill out, BRO, be happy.

Lily Alberts is an economics major from Nashville, Tenn. She can be reached at lalberts@princeton.edu.