Taking a Day Off Without Earning It
For the rest you keep postponing until you have done enough to deserve it. It protects the day from errands and guilt, and settles what counts as a good one before it starts.
Rest · Self-Care · Perfectionism · 8 items · whenever you need it
The checklist
- Book it before you feel you deserve it — Waiting to earn rest is how people end up never resting.
- Tell one person it is a day off — Said out loud, it is harder to quietly fill with errands.
- Leave the to-do list in another room — A rest day with the list in sight is not a rest day.
- Pick one thing you actually want to do — Not improving, not catching up; wanting it is the whole test.
- Let the day be unproductive on purpose — That is not the day going wrong, that is the day working.
- Notice the guilt and carry on anyway — Guilt on a day off is a habit, not information.
- Keep the phone out of the first hour — The day is more yours if it does not open with other people’s needs.
- Do not make up for it tomorrow — Rest paid back with a double shift was a loan, not a rest.
Use this checklist Free account: tick items off and keep each day's record.
How to use it
Run through it whenever you need it, honestly and without scoring yourself. A checklist is a way of noticing, not a test: an item you cannot tick is information about the day, not a verdict on you. Over a few weeks the pattern of what gets ticked and what does not says more than any single pass.
With a free Theraglee account the checklist remembers each pass, so you can look back. Without one, you can still read it here and keep your own copy.