I recently conducted my first quarterly review, reflecting on quarter three and reevaluating and aligning my goals for the remainder of the year.

The quarterly review was designed by Kara Monroe and hosted by Creative Work Hour, a daily online community that gathers people to work together. If you are interested in joining like-minded folks in the next quarter, check out Kara’s Twitter for future sessions.

It was a good exercise because it reminded me of the power of intentionality.

Out of this experience, one question needed answering.

How can I incorporate more joy in my daily life while making progress in the goals I want to accomplish?

It’s easy to get caught up daily, focusing on getting through our to-do list.

Some work simply doesn’t end.

So what can we do to incorporate daily joy while dedicating ourselves to long-term projects or lifelong craft?

Sometimes we are so focused on getting to the end of the tunnel that we miss out on the other significant good things around us.

Annie Dillard wrote this beautifully, How we spend our days is of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing.

When we spend our days caught up in completing to-do lists or trying to reach the next milestone, that is how we spend our lives.

To incorporate more joy into our lives, Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way's author, suggests getting familiar with what gives you joy. If you are not sure, you can start making a list.

• List 20 things that you enjoy doing

• Write down the date on when was the last time you did them. (Don't be surprise if its been years since you did something that brings you joy)

• Schedule 1 or 2 of these activities for your next week.

Julia Cameron wrote that to strive as artists (or creators for many of us), we need to be available to the universal flow. When we stop our capacity to feel joy from the small gifts of life. we are also declining the more significant gifts that life can offer us.