“Leisurehacker” was born 6 years ago today.

Leisure-hacking, for me, is and has always been about lifestyle design. Lifestyle design is intentionally crafting a way of life ( = how you spend your time, energy, and money) that aligns with who you are.

This means that a “good life,” a happy, fulfilling, satisfying, successful life, will look different for everyone: for some, it will be working by the pool in Thailand and traveling the world; for some, it will be the ability to work from home or not at all while taking care of your kids and home.

There’s no right or wrong in lifestyle design – just what aligns with you, with your purpose, your core values, energy levels, etc…

“Is this it…?“

For the majority of my life, growing up, I did everything I was “supposed” to do. I got good grades in school, did plenty of extracurricular activities, graduated with honors from the university, got a good job, was in a relationship with my high-school sweetheart… and by the time I was 30, I was an award-winning architect, leading a team, making good money, and hustling my way through life.

On the outside, everything was fine (imagine reading it in a high-pitched Ross tone)… It even looked great, but I wasn’t really happy and often felt exhausted and frustrated.

Nothing was “wrong,” everything was… fine. But I just couldn’t stop asking myself, “Is this it…? There has to be a better way to live life…”

Indeed, nothing was wrong—I know many people who would kill to have the life I had, but I didn’t feel like my life. It wasn’t aligned.

This was the breaking point, and 6 years ago, I quit my job and bought a plane ticket to Brazil. Enter a cliché photo from the airport with the caption: “Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.” 🙊🙈

Step 1: Figure out what you TRULY want.

In the beginning, I didn’t even know what I wanted or what was aligned for me because I don’t think I knew who I was (for real…). So the journey was mostly about uncovering, layer after layer, all the conditioning and programming I had that didn’t serve me anymore and discerning between the external noises and my own true voice.

How can you do this?

✨ Question everything. Why do you do the things that you do? Because everyone is doing it this way? Because society/your parents/peers told you this should be this way? Or is it because you truly want to?

✨ Think about what’s most important to you in life. Write down those things and see if they match up with how you’re currently living.

✨ Start paying attention to how things feel when you do. You’ll start noticing if and when you’re out of alignment.

Eventually, my journey of personal development led me to the world of productivity and positive intelligence, where I found my passion for uncovering why people do what they do and how to help them do it better.

Step 2: Making leisure a priority.

Some believe that lifestyle design is about the big things in life—about the job you have, the relationship you’re in, or the vacation you take. And while this is true – I think that for me, it’s mostly about the small decisions you make every day – the food you eat, the friends you hang out with, the content you consume…

Thinking that when you “finally” get that pay raise or make those 6 figures or find your partner THEN you’ll be happy will leave you in a perpetual state of waiting – not being present to what is. It can also cause a very sophisticated and subtle type of procrastination on your happiness 😜

But if you only focus on the here and now and start saying yes to more things that make you happy and no to more things that aren’t aligned, this WILL add up and create massive changes in your life. Trust me.

Hack that leisure/joy/fulfillment into your life—don’t wait for it all to fall into place. This could include scheduling regular breaks throughout the day, trying out new hobbies, or setting boundaries around work and technology.

Some resources to help you:

A Step-By-Step Guide to creating the best morning routine for you

A beginner’s guide to dating yourself

70 easy ways to feel happier right now

After I figured out WHAT I wanted to do – the next step for me was figuring the HOW…

Step 3: The path of least resistance.

If, like me, you’ve been taught you have to be the best and work hard to get what you want, turning you into a very goal-oriented, efficient (but somewhat of a perfectionistic, overachiever) adult – feeling constant pressure to be more and do more and never feeling enough 😅, then chances are you can relate.

For me, leisure hacking and productivity aren’t just about how much you get done but how easy it is for you to reach your goals or how effortlessly efficient you can be.

Enter the “mindful” part in my Mindful Productivity methodology.

Mindful Productivity is a unique method I developed that isn’t about doing more things; it’s about getting things done and finding the balance between high achievements and feeling enough.

It’s more than a time-management strategy or a productivity hack – it’s a way of life.

A simple set of principles that lead us to have more – time, energy, and income – without necessarily doing more because we’re focusing on doing the right things, better.

Thanks to it, now, instead of working 80-hour weeks and feeling completely burnout – I’m able to work only 20 hours a week while traveling the world and making more money than ever before.

Let’s get Effortlessly Efficient.

A game-changer in this journey for me was knowing how to prioritize my tasks and life decisions, which helped me carve out the time and space to create this new life. I share my exact process step-by-step in the “From Task Overwhelm To Effortlessly Efficient” 5-Day Productivity Challenge.

By the end of the challenge, you’ll walk away with:

💡 A simple and clear process for efficiently tackling tasks in a way that leaves room for what’s important instead of just putting fires away.

📋 An organized to-do list that will help you move things forward.

🌟 A mindset of control and confidence in your productivity that will help you end your days feeling like a badass (instead of a hot mess).

Click here to enroll at the early bird price.

Remember that living a purposeful life is within your reach. By aligning your actions with your values and making deliberate choices each day, you can create a life filled with meaning and fulfillment. So, take the first step today.

Yours,

Jeni