This is a term I’ve come up with for myself, and it’s something I’m starting to really love. As I was researching in making sure this wasn’t anything else to avoid confusion, I came across the 75 Hard and the 75 Soft. Those refer to following certain health plans for 75 days to help your body. My version of a soft day is something else entirely.

I try to make time for a soft day at least once a weekend if I can. What I interpret as a soft day is the idea of having a list of things to do (usually around the house) without having a specific time to do them. It is not like a deep clean where you’re up at the crack of dawn and working hard until you get the whole place cleaned and sparkling. While those are important, that’s not what I want to accomplish. A soft day is getting up when you want, creating a list of what you want to accomplish, working on that list, and taking breaks as needed. Let me show you a better example of what I mean.

This past Sunday for me was a soft day. I didn’t get out of bed until about 10:30 am. I made a list of things to get done, including put my laundry away, make hard-boiled eggs, and clean up my living room. I made homemade broth, and that takes at least 6 hours. I put my stock pot on the stove, filled it up with my scraps and water, and just let it simmer. It made my house smell good all day as I worked on other projects. I would do some quick cleaning on my house and pick up a couple of areas that had gotten messy, but then I would also sit and be on my phone for a little bit. I got caught up on my bullet journal, and I stretched. I wasn’t set on a deadline. I actually didn’t get everything done, but I was able to give grace and kindness to myself. I still got most of my list done, and I had a productive day.

My life always feels like it’s busy. I don’t have a lot of days where I do nothing. But I like having days like Sunday where I’m not operating on a schedule. I feel it helps me to rest and recharge while also getting stuff done. A lot of times, my weeks get so busy that I don’t get a lot of chores and other tasks done during the week. Sometimes my weekends are also busy, and those tasks are also pushed back. That’s why I make to-do lists. They help me to organize and see exactly what I need to do at a certain day or time. On Sunday, I probably did about an hour and a half’s worth of work. But I spaced it out during the day and added rest time as well.

I’m in a very busy and stressful time. I am winding down my school year and finishing up the time that I have with my current batch of students. I am working towards spring break, which is the last break before the end of the year. In addition, I’m also working on what my summer is going to hold. I have a lot of plans and ideas. Many times, it feels like I’m trying to balance multiple things. I don’t have a lot of time where I feel I can let go of all my responsibilities. Soft days help me to focus on only a few responsibilities and let the rest be. I can focus on my health or on my house without having to worry about my job or taekwondo or something else. It’s a way to offload some stress while still being productive. It also motivates me to be better for the next week. If, for example, I cleaned my house on Sunday, then I feel better when I come home after work. Then that’s one less thing to worry about, and I can do other things instead.

A large component of soft days is giving yourself grace. You may not get everything done, and that’s okay. Again, it’s not about getting up super early to do every single things. It’s about knowing what you want to do, and working in a way that still allows you to rest and relax.

I’ve mentioned before that this year for me is about focusing on health. I’m reminded there are so many ways to help and be better at health. Yes, health is about what you put into your body and how you move. But health is also about how you manage your stress and what you do with your time. There are so many aspects to health that I’m continuing to learn for myself.

I know that I’m in a decent position. I rent my house, I don’t have kids to drive to other places, and I have a good job that pays me well. I know that not every person that reads my blog shares those same situations. But I hope that you can apply some of these ideals regardless of your position in life. Some people work better as getting up at super early and working super hard. I’m not here to stop that! Some people struggle to do work at all. If I’m honest, I tend to fall in that latter group pretty frequently. It helps me to have these soft days so I can get things done on my time and in my way. It can take me a lot of work to deep clean the house. I have to carve out a large chunk of time and effort. It usually takes me a few days of planning to even get there. Soft days don’t require as much work. It may not be as thorough of a task on a soft day. But I can still clean up the living room and the kitchen. I can make sure the dishes are done and my clothes are put away. Is the whole house sparkling by the end of it? Probably not. But it’s cleaner than when I woke up, and that’s progress. These small steps continue to add big results.