Design your day - a solution when you have lots to do and you don't know what to do

I grabbed a list of things to do with phone numbers and addresses on it and a map. I purchased a day travel card and embarked on my journey into the city. This is the story how I designed not one day but many days of my life and how you can do it too.

I really like my days off which don't fall on the weekends, because being an achiever I always have lots of things to tick from my to-do lists and the days off are those I use to accomplish all of my plans. People to meet, places to visit and things to buy accumulate throughout the weeks and when I finally get my free day I go on a journey. It makes me feel like a modern city explorer. Even if I visit places others had discovered before me, I still feel the thrill of seeing something new and adding on to the experience of my life. Later, I am even more happy to tell others in writing about the places I had visited. What makes those days exciting is planning stage, picking things I have to do and those I just want to do and doing something amazingly simple but so exciting. So what do I do?

1. I write down a list of all places to visit, things to do, things to buy that I really want to complete on the day. If they're too many I choose those which are urgent and important or I want to do the most. I check how long will take me a journey from point A to B, B to C, C to D etc., so I know how many places I can tick off in one day.

What appear on my lists are usually current exhibitions, shops I want to visit, people I need to talk to to write for blog and Weekendnotes.com. So I visited Coffee 7 at Forest Gate where I found out about the suspended coffee, Look Mum No Hands in Clerkenwell where I went for the very same reason, Victoria station where I wanted to buy tickets for our little trip and couple other places, October Gallery for the exhibition of Ghanaian painter Ablade Glover, Wellcome Collection (for my next post) and Camden Market to buy creative gifts.

2. Pin them on the map – you can use Google maps like I do or a paper map.

The map I used for planning my great big day off

This way you'll be able to design the best possible route. Even on the days off we have limited time and travelling for too long will eventually make us tired and will prevent us from enjoying the trip. I have some sort of love for logistics and creating routes, so I really enjoy that part of designing my day. I can see which route is quicker or more effective than the other, which place is better to visit in what time of the day etc.

3. Begin the journey
Feel like an explorer! Be a tourist in your own city, town or area. Enjoy every minute of your exploration, soak the atmosphere of places you visit, put your head out of bus's window and feel the breeze on your face. There is nothing better (maybe there is but let's say this gives you freedom)!

At the end of the day I arrive home feeling that I did something. And they weren’t only useful things but things I wanted to do for a long time. So next time you feel you have nothing to do, design your day.