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Leaving Work at Work
For anyone whose job follows them home in their head, their inbox or their evenings. Each day is one small step that closes the workday on purpose, so your evenings and weekends feel like your own again.
Work · Work · Boundaries · Burnout · one to-do a day · you choose how many days
The first seven days
- Day 1Pick a finishing time for today, write it at the top of your to-do list, and start wrapping up fifteen minutes before it.
- Day 2Before your shift ends, jot every unfinished task on one sheet of paper so your head does not have to carry them home.
- Day 3Choose three steps for a shutdown ritual, such as clearing your desk, checking tomorrow's calendar and saying "done," and do them tonight.
- Day 4Close every browser tab you opened for work today, one at a time, and let each click count as a small goodbye.
- Day 5Change out of your work clothes within ten minutes of getting home, even if you only swap into a soft T-shirt.
- Day 6Say a short closing phrase out loud as you finish, like "That's enough for today," and hear it as permission.
- Day 7Mute work email notifications on your phone from dinnertime until your next start time.
Further into the year
The to-dos keep changing as the year goes on. A few from later in this theme:
- Day 30Tell one coworker the time you usually sign off, in a friendly way, so they know when to expect replies.
- Day 60If your work and personal phone are the same, set up a focus mode that hides work apps after hours.
- Day 120In the last hour before sleep, do one thing your job would never ask of you, like stretching, reading fiction or folding laundry slowly.
- Day 240When you leave work at the end of your week, say out loud, "See you next week."
- Day 365Hum or whistle on the walk from your workplace to the bus stop, as a cheerful way to say the day is done.
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.