How to Plan to be Spontaneous

Planning to be spontaneous—seems like a contradiction, doesn’t it?

The truth is, if you don’t leave room in your life for spontaneity you’ll just end up feeling guilty the entire time when you decide to ditch your to-do list or skip out of work early to hit the beach.

Instead of putting items on a daily to-do list, make one for the week. This one action will allow you to decide when you’ll do certain tasks, and leave you feeling less guilty for not getting specific things done each day.

OR leave one day a week completely unscheduled—just do what you feel like doing and see where the day takes you!

Here are 7 things I’ve added to my car’s trunk so that I am prepared for spontaneity: 

1. Blanket (I keep one in my car at all times for emergency preparedness anyway)

2. Camping chair

3. Flip flops

4. Easy, beach book

5. Sun hat

6. Change for a drink or snacks

7. Beach bag

Here are a few ideas for other ways you can plan to be spontaneous: 

1. Decide to go to a movie on a certain day – go there and watch a movie that is starting soon.

2. Meet up with a friend and plan to alternate choices for what you do next throughout the day.

3. Create a jar full of slips of paper with things that you’d like to do in your city. Plan a day each week or month to dip in to the jar and randomly pick out something to do.

I’d love to know if you have plans in place to allow for spontaneity in your life.