You Should Plan to Be Spontaneous

‘Planned Spontaneity’ is a crucial productivity secret nobody talks about

Nir Eyal
Forge
Published in
5 min readJun 22, 2021

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Photo: We are/Getty Images

Do you sometimes feel you lack spontaneity in your life? And yet you’re running ragged, cranking at work, taking care of the kids, and managing all of life’s other responsibilities. If there’s not enough time for your own wants and needs, how can there ever be enough time to live with joyful abandon?

There’s a simple technique that allows you to step off that hamster wheel and add greater spontaneity to your days. And the best part is you don’t have to give up the sense of order that your life needs.

Productivity and spontaneity are not opposites, as most people think. Let’s take a look at how they can work in tandem.

The three life domains

The Stoic philosopher Hierocles demonstrated the interconnected nature of our lives with concentric circles. He placed the human mind and body at the center, followed by your family in the next ring, fellow citizens and countrymen next, and all humanity in the outermost ring.

Inspired by his example, I created a way to simplify and visualize the three life domains where we spend our time — work, relationships, and you.

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Published in Forge

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Nir Eyal
Nir Eyal

Written by Nir Eyal

Posts may contain affiliate links to my two books, “Hooked” and “Indistractable.” Get my free 80-page guide to being Indistractable at: NirAndFar.com