The Good Enough Matrix: Choose Where Your Time and Energy Goes

I created the Good Enough Matrix during one of the most overwhelming seasons of my life.

I had recently quit my full time job to do my on thing through YouTube, moved from Virginia to Hawaii (x4 difficulty with a dog), started my first coaching program, and the only thing that was certain was whatever was happening in the next hour. 

It felt like my life was put into a confetti blaster and I was trying to put each piece back into the tube using oversized tongs. My home, career, finances, YouTube channel...

🔥*insert everything is fine meme*🔥

Whenever I tried to focus on one area of my life, the volume of another area would trash my concentration. I always felt like there was something else that was more important.

Constant FOMO.

Most of us treat every area of our lives like it needs to be optimized. Like if we're not actively improving something, we suck at adulting. So we log a bunch of tasks into our planner or bujo that feel like aspirations just waiting to mock you in the future.

Then we try to do everything, everywhere, all at once even though we're just one stubbed toe away from having a melt down. 

Despite this overwhelming feeling, we attempt to be "pRodUctiVe" anyways...

But here's what I was forced to learn: Most things can just be "Good Enough"

What the Good Enough Matrix Is

Lemme break this down piece by piece starting with the two axes:

Change Effectiveness and Time & Energy Management.

Change Effectiveness: How much is actually changing in an area of your life. 
 
This can be either internal change or external change. 

Internal change would be the confidence that you gain when a Japanese native tells you that your pronunciation when ordering a matcha latte was perfect. 

External change is what most of us think of when it comes to getting things done. The tangible stuff. Like actually being able to speak Japanese beyond ordering a matcha latte so that you can enjoy the culture on another level.

Time & Energy Investment: how much effort you're putting into something.

These are grouped together because we never experience one without the other. Unfortunately, one or the other is either overestimated or underestimated. 

Why is it that when something significant is finished we always feel the investment of both?

Like, "I spent SO much time working on this and I was exhausted by the time it was done." 

Time and energy acknowledged. 

But before we set something up, we assume that something like "time blocking" is enough, or the excitement that occurred on overcomitment will fuel us in the long run – even though we haven't done minimal math on when decluttering your closet will fit into your 50 hour work week. 

So to help reduce overwhelm upfront, I've learned that time and energy should always be considered at the same time before you get started. 

The Quadrants

 

Efficient 

These are things in our life that run on autopilot and get better on their own. Morning routines that leave us hydrated with supple skin, reliable delegation to your partner, automated finances that actually grow your bank account – where things feel easy, joyfully mindless, and low maintenance.

Like if Dyson made a roomba to rule them all.  

 

This is where we want everything in our lives to be. The truth is, very little of our lives actually resides in this quadrant. The fantasy of every area of our lives landing in the efficient quadrant is exactly what sets us up for overwhelm. 

But don't worry, it's definitely possible to have things move into the efficient quadrant on their own. You'll know how in a bit. 

 

Overwhelmed

These are things that cause us to feel wrecked with nothing to show for the time and energy put in. It's where you think about how your website could be better, your clothes could be folded in neat, standing squares, or your fridge could be packed with perfectly portioned meal preps that actually taste good. 

You're constantly thinking about this stuff and it ends up sucking up your time and energy regardless if you're in the kitchen looking for a missing lid, or screenshotting meal prep recipes to never be looked at again.    

This is where burnout brews.

It's also a beaming signal that something needs to change if we want to save time and energy to focus on what makes us happy. 

 

Focus Area

This is where your intentional priorities live. Not what makes you look good, not what's expected of you – what would actually make you happier if you experienced meaningful internal and external change. This is where "Learn Japanese" would go. 

 

 

It's also where we initially put "Meal Prep", "Declutter", "Finance", and "Career" without considering or being honest about how much time and energy these will take. 

This means everything you want to focus on, degrades to the overwhelm quadrant and "Learn Japanese" is a comedic pipedream...

Back to picking up confetti off the floor. 

So how do you keep this from happening? 

 

Good Enough 

This is where you set the standards for what "Good Enough" looks and feels like for certain areas of your life. You're meeting basic needs and that's it. Nothing's really changing here — and you're okay with that. 

This is a conscious decision to conserve time and your mental, physical, and emotional energy. This is what allows you to actually focus on learning Japanese and a financial system so that you can see Mt. Fuji in person while sipping a matcha latte. 

 

 

This comes from consciously setting Good Enough standards like:

🟨 Saying no to weekend volunteer events at work that don't interest you
🟨 Letting a junk drawer stay a junk drawer
🟨 Not responding to every group chat message
🟨 Rotating the same three Uniqlo shirts for work vs planning a new 'fit everyday
🟨 Letting your kid's room be their problem
🟨 Having boiled eggs with Old Bay and a protein drink everyday for breakfast
🟨 Not posting on YouTube

And remember how I said that areas of your life can move into the efficient quadrant on their own? 

Turns out, when you focus on improving any area of your life and actually experience internal and external changes, this makes everything else easier. 

If you truly enjoy putting in the time and energy to learn Japanese, you'll do whatever it takes to minimize the things that get in the way of memorizing the nouns for stationery. 

And if you're serious about straightening out your bank account, you won't be adding truffle oil to your meal preps and selling a giant, industrial grade sewing machine isn't just about decluttering. 

Also, when others know what your good enough standards are, they tend to either step up, help, or simply just understand – which removes guilt and anxiety that can come from narrowing your focus. 

The Good Enough Matrix isn't a one-time productivity exercise that ignores the realities of life.

It's dynamic. It's specifically designed for change.

Something that's a Focus Area right now might yeehaw its way to Efficient once it becomes routine. Something you parked in Good Enough might need to become a Focus Area when you realize full blown avoidance was scooting it over to the Overwhelmed quadrant. 

 

And it doesn't just work for big life areas or projects. You can use it for individual tasks too.

As long as you're honest about where things are on your matrix, it'll meet you where you're at.

How the Good Enough Matrix works in Real Life

When I moved to the most isolated land mass in the world, I consciously put my home in Good Enough. 

Decorations stayed in boxes. Nothing had a permanent home. Instead of dwindling my time and energy on curating our bedroom setup, I focused on refining my new coaching program — the thing that mattered most to me at the time.

I did the same thing with my sticker shop.

I love doodling and sharing my stickers. But trying to fulfill orders on demand while building everything else was squeezing the joy out of it. So I moved it to Good Enough. 

I ship once a month now. That's it.

This freed me up to actually enjoy the creative process again instead of fiddling with logistics that sapped my focus.

Not only has The Good Enough Matrix helped me protect my focus, it's made me a better problem solver.

When I wanted to step back from my coaching program to build an app, I knew my finances were going to take a hit.

After 2 years, I willingly went back into the clinic to work part-time by my "Good Enough" standards: Only treating 10 hours a week. 

This is the happiest I've ever been working with patients again, mostly because I'm able to keep my focus on what really matters to me right now – building Task Alignment.  

And chances are I wouldn't have even considered 10 hours being an option if I didn't focus on my relationship with money before this. 

Using the Good Enough Matrix forced me to be creative to figure out solutions for spending my time and energy on the things that make me happy, while minimizing the drain from other things that absolutely have to happen.

Here's the very first time I mapped out my matrix compared to now.

These were all choices. But they were only choices I could make once I could see them clearly.

And I know this doesn't just work for me. 

I met a subscriber who set a calendar reminder to revisit this matrix every Sunday. She did this for a year after she left a traumatic marriage while couch surfing with her adolescent daughter.

She's now in nursing school and living in a cute artisan town that brought her back to painting. 

Instead of feeling shame about your current circumstance or lack of progress, the Good Enough Matrix lets you see it for what it is.

It relieves you of overwhelm so that you can take control of change. 

Once you can see what's really going on, you start to look for other ways to clean up the confetti. 

Simie

P.S. If you have a hard time sticking to your Good Enough standards get it to stick by grabbing "Good Enough" sticker here (Sorry, I couldn't resist lol).

P.P.S. I believe The Good Enough Matrix so much that I went and copyrighted it – but the idea behind it is something I want everyone to have access to. Map your life out on your own or go in depth where I first shared it in this workshop. Pay attention to what you notice and revisit it over and over again to see how your life changes.