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Easing Sunday Night Dread
For anyone whose weekend ends with a knot in the stomach about the week ahead. Each day is one small way to prepare gently, keep the last evening of the weekend your own, and start the week with less dread.
Stress · Stress · Work · Worry · one to-do a day · you choose how many days
The first seven days
- Day 1Write down, in one plain sentence, the exact thing you dread most about the start of your next workweek.
- Day 2Before you finish work today, jot a line beside each open task saying where you left it, so future you can pick up the thread.
- Day 3Make a "done list" of five things you finished this week, however small, and read it aloud once.
- Day 4Pick one thing to look forward to on the first morning of your week, a favorite coffee, a podcast, a walk, and put it on your calendar.
- Day 5Lay out tomorrow's clothes tonight, shoes and socks included, so one decision is already made.
- Day 6Turn off work email notifications on your phone for your next free evening, and notice how that evening feels.
- Day 7Set a ten-minute timer this evening, write every worry about the coming week, and close the notebook when the timer rings.
Further into the year
The to-dos keep changing as the year goes on. A few from later in this theme:
- Day 30Tidy your workspace for ten minutes so it looks welcoming when you next sit down.
- Day 60Write down one fear about the coming week, then write the most likely outcome beside it.
- Day 120Estimate how many hours of your last days off went to fretting about work, and write the number down without judgment.
- Day 240Choose a pleasant scent, a hand lotion or a candle, to use only on the last evening before your week begins.
- Day 365Pick the single to-do from this challenge that made the biggest difference, and put it on your calendar for each of the next four weeks.
How a challenge works
A Theraglee challenge is a theme with one small to-do for every day of a year. You choose how long yours runs, anywhere from a week to the full year, and each day you get the next to-do: something that takes a few minutes and fits inside an ordinary day. Tick it off when it is done. Nothing is scored and nothing is lost if you miss a day; the next to-do is simply waiting when you come back.
Challenges come with a free Theraglee account, which never asks for a card. Your progress stays private to you.