A simple but effective exercise (Frisch, 2005) that provides an opportunity to take time out of your day to reflect on what’s important in your life and think about whether the amount of time and energy you currently dedicate to these areas reflects their personal value to you.

Method

Draw a large circle (happiness pie) and take some time to split it into slices representing what you currently spend your time and energy on – e.g. family, social circle, health, personal/professional goals, work, learning, hobbies, community … make the size of the slices representative of the amount of time/energy you really give to these parts of your life.

Once you’ve completed this, look back at your happiness pie – does the size of each slice match with how important that piece of your life is to you? E.g. If your social circle is really important to you, have you drawn a big slice because you currently spend a lot of time/energy connecting with friends?

If not, then how can you begin to realistically rearrange the way you spend your time so that you can dedicate more energy to this area that means a lot to you? Note down two or three ways you can move forward and take small steps to make this happen.

Whether you do this last part of the exercise on your own or with a partner, spending time to reflect on what makes you happy and how much time you truly dedicate to this can be a powerful tool to identify your priorities, set meaningful goals and initiate behaviour change.

Further Reading

Frisch, M. B. (2005). Quality of life therapy: Applying a life satisfaction approach to positive psychology and cognitive therapy. John Wiley & Sons.