A worksheet, really a way of thinking, for designing the conditions of your life so that calm is more likely. Not a routine. Not a discipline. A menu of small choices that make your nervous system’s job easier.
The practice:
Across one week, fill in your menu under five headings. Aim for two or three items per heading, not a complete list.
Anchors: the things that, when present, make me feel steadier. (Examples: morning walk, reading before sleep, calling Mum on Sundays.)
Drains: the things that reliably leave me dysregulated. (Examples: doom-scrolling at night, skipping lunch, that one coworker, late-evening news.)
Resets: small actions that bring me back when I’ve drifted. (Examples: bath, ten-minute walk, calling a specific friend.)
Boundaries: the protective decisions I want to keep making. (Examples: phone in the kitchen overnight, no work email after 7 pm, no commitments on Sundays.)
Spaces: physical places that support me. (Examples: the chair by the window, the local park, the kitchen on a Saturday morning.)
Once you have your menu, the question is no longer “what should I do today?” It’s “which of these am I missing right now?”
Update the menu every few months. What anchors you in winter may not anchor you in summer.
Keep it with you: print this tool as a card (PDF).
Audio guide: arriving with the book's launch.
Come back to this whenever you need it. Returning is the practice.