Antidote for Off Days
Antidote for Off Days
I love to travel and explore. I also love a predictable routine. It can be a struggle to reconcile these two loves. Vacation has been an essential part of my annual planning, because it used to be the only time I could truly disconnect from my work to rest. I’ve worked to develop the discipline to pause for a weekly rest, but a Sunday Funday doesn’t have the same soul reset as setting my phone to airplane mode for a week before tossing it into a drawer. The freedom of an unplugged vacation is incomparable, but it was always disappointing to discover the traction I lost while away.
The email and task backlog aren’t nearly as daunting as trying to reclaim the routines I’d neglected while gone. It was discouraging to miss a few workouts, skip a few devotionals, or fall behind on a reading goal. One miss escalates into two, then snowballs into the rest of the week. I didn’t want to sacrifice travel or optimization, so I had to find a way to help me protect progress during vacation and resume my regularly scheduled routines as soon as I returned.
We can protect and invest in our optimal self, even on off days, if we make commitments that are non-negotiable, mobile, and tiny.
1. Make it non-negotiable
We all have a tiny terrorist, I mean perfectionist, in our minds. The one that tells us we deserve an extra day off because we work hard, when the truth is that we deserve to continue practicing the habits that make us healthy, happy, and aligned. The perfectionist tells us that if we can’t do the full routine perfectly, we shouldn’t bother doing it at all. It tells us we’ve already missed the mark today, so we should give up and start fresh tomorrow. Then after we’ve missed a few days, it shames us into thinking failure is who we are, instead of something we experience. I lose when I try to reason with my tiny terrorist, so I don’t engage with it anymore. I make a decision once, and then it’s done. Of course, I evaluate new data to help me make better decisions for the future, but I don’t negotiate with feelings in the moment.
…with if-then statements
We can use “if-then” statements to set our intentions, simplify our routines, and reduce decision fatigue. If I wake up, then I will do the core practices that help me be the optimal version of myself for me, my family, and my community. My morning routine is the same seven days a week. I don’t sabotage my circadian rhythm by staying up late on weekends because I have a 5 AM appointment with myself every day. I don’t just exercise when I feel like it. I sweat or stretch every day. I don’t meditate if I can find the time. I make time to recenter with quiet stillness every day, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
…with 100% commitment
Making a 100% commitment is easy. Making a 90% commitment is brutal. A 100% commitment doesn’t mean that we’ll never miss a day. It means that we refuse to intentionally leave a foothold for failure. A 100% commitment means that we don’t let slips turn into slides. If we struggle with unhealthy snacking, we may commit to having a junk-food-free home, at least for a season. If we struggle with drinking responsibly, we may commit to eliminating temptation by not attending alcohol-centered social gatherings. If we struggle with binge-watching shows, we may commit to a digital sunset by plugging the TV into a $5 outlet timer that cuts off an hour before bedtime. Make the decision once so you don’t have to negotiate in a weak moment on an off day. After we decide our non-negotiables, we can use the next two strategies to make our commitments flexible enough to bend without breaking on our off days.
What commitment will you make non-negotiable today?
2. Make it mobile
I’m a big advocate of pen and paper, but on vacation, our phones can be great tools to store our systems in one lightweight place. I love flipping through the physical pages of my study Bible, but it’s inconvenient to pack if I’m traveling light. The Bible app keeps my routine strong, so I don’t have to play catch-up after vacation. I’ll leave the planner at home and use my notes app to track a checklist of my core practices while I’m traveling. I store my Purpose Plan on my phone, so I can reflect on who I’m called to be and what’s most important as my day starts. I also have equipment-free exercise programs in my notes app because I’m more likely to do a workout if there’s a guide to follow.
…with valuing resourcefulness over resources
We often lack the comforts of home when we travel. I am an excellent minimalist packer. I can easily pack for a two-week European trip in a 22-liter backpack. Many of the pieces that make my morning routine optimal are not easily packed when we’re measuring weight in ounces. If it’s an essential part of my routine, I challenge myself to make it mobile. There are many pieces of equipment and technology to help us become better versions of ourselves, but we should be cautious of the dependency they may create. Valuing resourcefulness over our resources allows us to appreciate comfort when it’s available without becoming too reliant on it.
How can you make the essentials of your routine more mobile to prevent losing traction?
3. Make it tiny
After making the core practices for our best selves non-negotiable and mobile, we need to make them easy. When we turn challenging things into tiny steps, they’re easier to accomplish. For instance, my usual morning gym routine takes 45-50 minutes. I’ll do my normal routine if I have access to a gym and ample time in the mornings, but that’s not always the case. I created an abbreviated vacation routine that I can do anywhere. It opens with a sun salutation, followed by 10 squats, 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, and closes with a sun salutation. If I can’t find five minutes in my day to take care of my health while I’m traveling, then I’m probably overleveraged. Similarly, my typical Bible reading plan and devotional takes about twenty minutes, but my too-tiny-to-fail habit is reading a two-minute devotional for the verse of the day. My ten-minute meditation can be simplified to four deep, intentional breaths. My daily plan becomes a 30-second virtue intention of what I want to embody for the day, such as being present, encouraging, or grateful. Thinking tiny helps us conquer our off days.
…with a placeholder
We should consider starting small when implementing a new habit because we are more likely to do it if we reduce the effort required to complete the behavior. Practicing our well-established habits on vacation may feel similar to installing a new habit because the normal cues are absent, the distractions are high, and motivation may be low. We can increase our chances of success by making it too tiny to fail. This also allows us to mark our daily practice with a placeholder so our brain knows it’s still important. Making our practices tiny, instead of skipping them, helps our brains live in integrity with who we are. I am the type of person who strengthens her faith with God’s Word daily. I am the type of person who recenters with quiet meditation daily. I am the type of person who prioritizes movement and recovery for my body daily.
What are the daily actions for the type of person you want to become? How can you make those practices too tiny to fail, even on off days?
New Baseline
Learning how to live well in this temporary world is a lifelong pursuit. The spiritual values we have through our faith are often in direct conflict with the values of this world. We can enjoy the beauty, adventure, and fun of this world, but not at the expense of what matters most. When I find myself neglecting priorities, it’s usually because I’ve lost a firm grip on my purpose. The best antidote for off days is to keep our purpose clear, magnetic, and within reach of persistent and sustainable effort. The behaviors we do consistently shape who we are becoming. As we shift the focus from what we do to who we are becoming, our capacity continues to expand as our previous best days become the foundation for our new baseline.
Faith Encouragement:
Ephesians 4:15-16 - Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:22-24 - You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Viktor E. Frankl – “When a person can't find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.”