how to not give a fuckhedonic calendar
you know what makes you happy. you just don't do those things often enough. not because you're lazy, but because you never built a system for it.
enter the hedonic calendar.
what is a hedonic calendar?
it's a structured schedule of every activity that puts you in a state of bliss, organized by how risky and rewarding each one is. think of it as a happiness investment portfolio.
some bliss activities are low-risk and easily repeatable - a morning surf session, cooking your favorite meal, a long walk in nature. others are high-risk and require more planning - skydiving, solo international travel, starting a business.
both types matter. the low-risk activities provide steady baseline happiness. the high-risk ones provide the peak experiences that make life feel extraordinary.
building yours
step one: brain dump every activity that has ever put you in a state of genuine bliss. not mild enjoyment - full, unmistakable joy. the kind where time disappeared and you felt completely alive.
step two: rate each one on two scales from 1-10:
- risk (cost, danger, time commitment, logistical complexity)
- reward (intensity of joy, duration of afterglow, sense of meaning)
step three: sort them into frequency buckets:
- weekly (risk 1-3): morning hikes, jam sessions, dinner with close friends
- monthly (risk 4-6): weekend camping trips, concerts, trying a new sport
- quarterly (risk 7-8): multi-day adventures, workshops, major experiences
- yearly (risk 9-10): international expeditions, extreme sports, life-changing commitments
scheduling happiness like a professional
open your calendar right now. block time for your weekly bliss activities first - these are non-negotiable. then schedule your monthly ones. then look ahead and lock in your quarterly and yearly peak experiences.
most people plan work meticulously and leave happiness to whatever scraps of time remain. flip that. schedule joy first. let everything else fill in around it.
the compound effect of planned happiness
when you know your next bliss activity is already on the calendar, something shifts. the anticipation alone improves your day-to-day mood. you stop white-knuckling through the week hoping something good will happen. instead, you're always counting down to the next guaranteed hit of joy.
build your hedonic calendar this weekend. your happiness is too important to leave to chance.
if this resonated, share it with someone who needs to hear it.