Use end‑of‑life tests to choose yes with your whole self

On paper, your week looks impressive. In your chest, it feels off. You’re busy, but are you forward? A simple set of tests brings the answer into focus. You pour coffee, open a note, and write a single line you’d be proud to have as a work epitaph. Maybe it’s “She made complex ideas feel human.” Or “He built tools that freed people’s time.” It’s not perfect, but it’s clear enough to aim.

Next, you scan your calendar through another lens: the Deathbed Test. If you were on your deathbed today, would you be happy with the time you gave this person or project? Your thumb hovers over a recurring meeting you don’t respect. The answer is obvious. You delete it and send a kind note. In its place, you block time labeled with verbs: “Write the chapter,” “Call Dad,” “Build the demo.”

A sneaky trap appears in the form of sevens. They’re nice enough to say yes to but bland enough to regret later. So you adopt a rule: if it feels like a seven out of ten, force a six or an eight. If it doesn’t jump to an eight, it’s a six and gets a no.

These tools work because they compress values into quick checks. End‑of‑life framing prevents hyperbolic discounting, where the urgent crowds out the important. The seven‑ban forces categorical thinking, which reduces dithering. Naming calendar blocks with actions strengthens implementation intentions: when situation X, I will do behavior Y. You don’t need a five‑year plan. You need a one‑sentence epitaph and courage to honor it this week.

Write a one‑sentence work epitaph you’d be proud of, then look at your week through the Deathbed Test and cut what doesn’t pass. Adopt a rule that sevens become either sixes or eights, then block your calendar with action labels that match your values. Use these checks to guide one big no and one big yes today, and watch the week feel different.