There is no single validated academic framework for prioritising across all of personal life. The closest analogues each capture part of the picture.

• Maslow's hierarchy (1943) is widely cited but empirically weak. Tay and Diener (2011) showed across 123 countries that needs are pursued in parallel, not sequence. Not used here.
• Theory of Constraints (Goldratt, 1984), drawn from operations management, holds that a system's output is gated by its weakest critical link. Applied to life, this means identifying and addressing the binding constraint before optimising elsewhere.
• Self-Determination Theory (Deci and Ryan, 2000) identifies three core psychological needs – autonomy, competence, and relatedness – alongside physical needs. Better supported than Maslow.
• The Wheel of Life, a coaching tool, asks you to self-rate eight to ten areas and work on the lowest. Intuitive but limited by poor self-assessment.
• ITN (Importance, Tractability, Neglectedness), developed by effective altruists for cause selection, adapts reasonably to personal areas.
• Hedonic adaptation research (Lyubomirsky and others) shows that relationships, autonomy, meaning, and mastery produce lasting wellbeing returns. Income beyond roughly $75,000–100,000 household and most possessions adapt away (Killingsworth, 2021).

This survey combines these into a three-stage approach: triage acute issues first, then fundamentals where there are significant gaps, then prioritise across remaining areas. The values input draws on Schwartz's theory of basic human values (validated across 80+ countries); the constraint identification draws on Theory of Constraints.