I love the concept of streaks, and I do think it was good to show myself that I could choose to do something like that. I could make time to run while traveling. I could make time to run even when life was busy. I could run every single day of a pregnancy! (Not very fast at the end at all…but I did do it). The streak nudged me to take some runs I might not have, like a gorgeous Vancouver harbor sunrise run after some rough travel. I even felt pumped up for life during some ridiculous runs, like one I did at 4 a.m. or so in Oregon before a 6-ish flight (it felt more reasonable since I hadn’t adjusted from eastern time…on the other hand, that was in the first trimester!)

That said, I have not felt tempted to re-start the streak. I’m not sure what the official streak rules are, but I could have given myself a 6-week “streak freeze” (a la Duolingo) and gotten going again. I did not.

There are reasons. I know from my time diary study for I Know How She Does It that women with children under the age of 2 have significantly less time for major leisure categories (exercise, reading, TV) than those with older children. I started my streak when my fourth child was almost two. For the past 22 months, I have had a kid under age 2, with all that entails. I’m needing to find ways to fit a lot into each day, and not needing to find space for a run every single day dials the pressure down a bit. I am absolutely sure I could do it. I’m doing my “rituals” (chapter in W&P, write 100 words, some strength training) daily. But I don’t want to run daily anymore.

So instead I’m making sure running falls in my “three times a week is a habit” rubric. I definitely run at least 3 times per week every week. Usually it’s more like 4 times. (I also have a rule to “create a back-up slot” so if I want to run three times per week, I need to have at least four potential times). This allows me to be a bit more choosy about my runs. I avoid bad weather. I go when I can go run on the trails near my house, which I definitely prefer to the treadmill or even loops around the neighborhood. I ran on a hotel treadmill this morning (I’m traveling to give a speech) and it was fine, especially since I have quite a bit of time this morning (hello time change and mid-day speech). But it’s not exactly something to write home about. It’s nice not to automatically need to find hotel treadmills.

The one downside is that one of exercise’s best benefits is mood elevation. I definitely am in a better mood when I run than when I don’t. But to get at least some of the upsides of activity, I’m trying to “move by 3 p.m.” (another TBT rule!) every day in some way, shape, or form. It can be far easier to walk briskly for 10 minutes at some point in the day than to run for 10-12 minutes (my usual pace). Park a little farther from the store. Walk around the new house yard when I’m visiting for construction supervision. It’s not quite the same, but it is something. And right now, that’s fine.

Photo: From a sunrise, on-the-beach run in Cape May last week. That was a run worth doing! 

I have done this every day since January 1st, which was 215 days ago. I did do some push-ups yesterday. But I did not do the reading or writing.

I have spent quite a while today pondering why that was. There was no real time reason. I had time; it only takes a few minutes in any case. I was at my desk — fewer hours than on a “typical” Tuesday, but still there, with my copy of War and Peace next to me and my laptop available, and indeed, in use.

The honest truth is that I forgot. There was a brain blip of some sort, influenced by slight changes in schedule and work on other things. On weekdays, I often do my rituals in the morning as kids are getting ready for school or camp. But yesterday my husband left early for something, and I was driving a kid downtown. Our nanny gets to work at 8:00 a.m. I needed to finish getting ready, and we left at 8:20, but there was a lot of traffic and I didn’t get back to my desk until around 9:30. At that point, I decided to dive right into book writing, rather than doing my rituals. I think I figured I’d do them during a break. Then I got really into the writing, and kept at it without much of a break until I wound up with the baby for a while as other camp runs were happening. Those camp runs were delayed with other traffic, and I had to race out as soon as a kid got back to go to a planned afternoon adventure. This involved the Cousins Maine Lobster truck (see picture), which was parked at a nearby mall for the day, and then this indoor trampoline thing a handful of children had been begging to do.

This all took longer than expected (there was a wait for the trampoline) and we got home around 6:15 p.m. We ate dinner, there was a showdown over fruit eating, I put the baby to bed and then didn’t make it back into my home office until late. At that point I wasn’t even thinking about the rituals, because I have almost universally done them in the morning. I had more or less forgotten that I hadn’t done them.

Until this morning when I walked into my office, picked up War and Peace and said…wait. I didn’t read this yesterday! It’s somewhat amazing to me that I could do something for 215 days in a row and then forget, but there we go. At least it was easy enough to pick back up. I read two chapters and wrote two separate 100-word bits in the free writing file. We’ll see if I forget again before the end of the year!

This first month of the year has been cold and dreary— and yet very good. On January 1st I began a new daily streak of what I am calling my “rituals.” I read a chapter of War and Peace (Tolstoy’s epic has 361 very short chapters). I write at least 100 words in my “free writing file.” I do some strength work: squats, kettle bell swings, etc. I did these rituals all 31 days of January. This is a pace that feels sustainable, so I hope to keep going through the rest of the year. I also did the hill work and speed workouts from my Many Happy Miles program every week. I ran 6.7 swift miles outside in 18 degree weather early Saturday morning. Putting those little hand warmers in my gloves helps a lot. Given that January is never a great month for running, I’m happy that I kept these resolutions.

I am moving forward in the house project, choosing appliances, plumbing fixtures, floor tiles, even a make of toilet that will go in every bathroom (when you buy an old house…you wind up fixing a lot). I keep thinking that I am glad I am a satisficer rather than an optimizer. I did not let the thought enter my head that I should choose a different toilet style for different bathrooms.

Work has felt slightly more sustainable now that I am down to two podcasts. I started the year a little sad about this, but winding down The New Corner Office was a good decision, especially since the virtual speaking business pace has picked up. Unlike in-person speaking, virtual work doesn’t need to have any seasonality to it. Pre-2020, most of my business happened between March and May, and then from September to mid-November. Trying to fly 500 people to Minneapolis in January for a conference would just be an exercise in masochism, but virtual events can happen at any time. I’m really interested to see how this will play out over the next few years. One of the month’s highlights: being on the Drew Barrymore show (and her calling herself an uber-fan)! I managed some little adventures, going to two art museums and to Longwood Gardens’s lovely greenhouse. We took some family walks. The kids had some outdoor playdates.

And I finished the Tranquility by Tuesday pilot project….Which brings me to the second part of this post’s headline! I’m now enrolling people for the full version of the Tranquility by Tuesday project — a study that will form the basis of my next book. People who participate take an introductory survey (5-10 minutes) that covers how they spend their time and how they feel about their time. Then, over the next nine weeks, I introduce nine different time management strategies. Each week, participants take two short (2-3 minute) surveys: one about how they plan to implement the strategy, and then a follow-up one about how those plans went. After nine weeks, they take a final survey. The time line for this phase is mid-February to late April.

Responses will be used (without names) in the Tranquility by Tuesday book. If there was a particularly good story, I would follow up to do a more extensive interview, and ask for permission to use names. Participants must be 18 years or older, but I welcome people of any demographic beyond that: kids, no kids, grown kids, employed, not currently working for pay, men/women/etc. I still need about 100 more people (I asked the folks who tried to enroll in the fall after the pilot capped out first). If you are interested and can commit to the full nine weeks you can sign up here. Thank you!

Update: Thanks to all who have expressed interest in the Tranquility by Tuesday project. Signups are now closed.