The current perspective is “There is no single “best” ideology for organizing your life, as the ideal approach depends entirely on your personal values, priorities, and goals.” For some, an organized life means having a meticulously scheduled calendar and a decluttered home. For others, it means pursuing meaningful experiences over possessions or cultivating inner peace through mindfulness.
Below is list of some common ideologies focused on self-organization and productivity.
Getting Things Done (GTD): This method, created by David Allen, is a framework for managing tasks and commitments by breaking them down into actionable steps. Its core idea is to free your mind from needing to remember everything by writing it down, allowing you to focus on the task at hand.
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The current perspective is “There is no single “best” ideology for organizing your life, as the ideal approach depends entirely on your personal values, priorities, and goals.” For some, an organized life means having a meticulously scheduled calendar and a decluttered home. For others, it means pursuing meaningful experiences over possessions or cultivating inner peace through mindfulness.
Below is list of some common ideologies focused on self-organization and productivity.
Getting Things Done (GTD): This method, created by David Allen, is a framework for managing tasks and commitments by breaking them down into actionable steps. Its core idea is to free your mind from needing to remember everything by writing it down, allowing you to focus on the task at hand.
Core principles: Capture everything that has your attention, clarify what needs to be done, organize information into lists, reflect on your goals, and engage with your tasks effectively.
The Pomodoro Technique: For those who feel overwhelmed, this time-management method can help. You break down your work into 25-minute intervals, separated by short breaks. This can boost focus and prevent burnout.
Simplifying and decluttering: Many people find that organizing their physical and digital space is the first step to organizing their life. The “one in, one out” rule is a popular strategy to prevent clutter buildup.
These ideologies and tools have been helpful through my personal and professional life but only address how to complete the tasks set before you (often by other people). What is the end-game? What is the ultimate goal and how does it benefit you or your family? Do you sometimes feel in life that you are just surviving with the responsibility that has been set before you with no big picture in view?
The history of wellness science traces its roots to ancient civilizations, where health was viewed as a balance between mind, body, and spirit. Early practices in ancient China, India, and Greece emphasized harmony and prevention—seen in traditions like Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and the Greek concept of eudaimonia (human flourishing). During the Industrial Revolution, wellness ideas shifted toward medicalization, focusing more on disease treatment than holistic well-being. However, the 20th century saw a revival of preventive and integrative approaches, led by figures such as Halbert Dunn, who coined the term “high-level wellness” in the 1950s.
Since then, wellness science has evolved into a multidisciplinary field blending psychology, nutrition, exercise physiology, and behavioral medicine to understand how lifestyle, environment, and mindset contribute to optimal health and longevity. Nine dimensions of wellness have emerged and constitute the definition of well-being for an individual.
The history of philosophy has deeply influenced the foundations of wellness science, as both disciplines explore what it means to live a good and fulfilling life. Ancient philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle emphasized the pursuit of virtue, balance, and eudaimonia—a state of human flourishing achieved through reason and ethical living. Eastern philosophies, including Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, similarly promoted mindfulness, harmony, and self-cultivation as paths to inner peace and well-being. These philosophical traditions laid the groundwork for modern wellness science, which integrates ethical reflection, self-awareness, and evidence-based practices to promote holistic health.
In contemporary contexts, wellness science continues to draw from philosophical concepts of meaning, purpose, and moral responsibility, recognizing that well-being is not merely physical or psychological, but also profoundly shaped by one’s values, worldview, and sense of connection to others and the world.
Below is a list of some common philosophies focused on meaning and mindset.
Stoicism: This ancient Greek philosophy teaches that you should focus your energy on what you can control—your own actions and attitudes—and accept what you cannot. This approach helps reduce anxiety and cultivates inner peace by focusing on virtue, reason, and resilience in the face of adversity.
Minimalism: This movement focuses on intentionally living with less to maximize what you value most. The goal is to declutter your life of excess material possessions, distractions, and commitments that do not bring you joy or purpose.
Epicureanism: Often misunderstood as simply pursuing pleasure, the Epicurean philosophy advocates for seeking a calm and happy life by maximizing simple pleasures, cultivating friendships, and limiting desires. This approach emphasizes contentment and peacefulness.
Mindfulness: This practice involves being fully present in the current moment without judgment. Through techniques like meditation and paying attention to your senses, you can reduce stress, increase mental clarity, and appreciate daily life.
For me personally, I find myself practicing all of these philosophies at different degrees and at different points in my life. We all know people in our lives that have maybe taken these philosophies to the extreme often alienating themselves from society as a whole. Does practicing one or all of these philosophies output the most well-rounded person? If wellness science has identified multiple dimension of wellness, can they all be addressed through philosophy alone? How can I apply the philosophical traditions into my daily life?
The nine dimensions of wellness are not a philosophy, but a model or framework based on a holistic philosophy of well-being that uses evidence-based tactics to optimize health. It is a practical model that views wellness as the interconnected result of multiple dimensions.
So what do you do with that model then? My proposition is to achieve optimal well-being in your life, you organize your life’s goals using the nine dimensions of wellness as your framework. Just knowing the nine dimension of wellness exist is not enough, you have to integrate them into your life. Your planner or to-do list has to ultimately point to the nine dimensions to achieve gains in your overall well-being.
Every short-term and long-term goal in your life should fall into one of the nine dimensions of wellness. Every dimension of wellness should be tracked in your life for current state and future state. By doing so, you create a holistic roadmap for personal growth that ensures balance, accountability, and sustained well-being across all aspects of your life.
This is why I created My Wellness FrameWork digital templates. Use of the digital templates will help organize your entire life around the nine dimensions of wellness including discovery, short-term goals, long-term goals, current state and desired future state for your well-being.
It is time to center our lives around sustainable well-being.
Founder of My Wellness Framework. My Wellness Framework is a package of digital templates that helps individuals organize their lives around the nine dimensions of wellness.