Tranquility by Tuesday Quotes

“The “before 3 p.m.” part requires a little more explanation. Some research has found that people who exercise regularly are more likely to do so in the morning—because, as we discussed in the morning routine section, mornings tend to be more regimented in people’s lives. If you build exercise into your morning routine, it will happen, whereas a planned 5 p.m. workout might be foiled by a meeting that runs late or a kid needing a ride home. Yet”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Exercise doesn’t take time, it makes time. Afew years ago, I gave a talk at a rather vast corporate campus. Teams aimed to cluster together, but as you might imagine with a big organization, this did not always happen. One woman told me that she had recently started working with a group located several buildings away. This meant that at least”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Time you enjoyed wasting isn’t wasted time.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Just search online for “food holidays” and start marking your favorites (National Chocolate Fondue Day?) on the calendar.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“An evening swim—even if it’s just sitting on the side while a preteen paddles around—can change the experience of a Tuesday, as you stare out at the summer sky, the stars, and the fireflies punctuating the darkness like little adventures can punctuate time.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“making memories requires novelty or intensity”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“window shopping downtown and ice cream, a drive to a neighboring town to check out a new park and pick up take-out from a restaurant that is new to us.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“A grocery store trip could become an adventure by turning it into a family competition (who can finish their portion of the list first?) or by adding a stop at an international grocery store or a farmer’s market. If you work from home, you’ll take breaks at some point, so why not use one for a fifteen-minute bike ride?”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Watching a lightning storm from a covered porch is an adventure. Climbing a backyard tree you’ve never climbed before is an adventure. During the strictest days of lockdowns, we could still explore our local trails and so our weekly “big adventure” tended to be a weekend family walk. We tried cuisines from different restaurants. I listened to online lectures about Bach’s B-minor mass, and attended Zoom toasts for friends’ books.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“adventure is more a state of mind than an objective standard of measurement.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“post seasonal fun lists on my blog (lauravanderkam.com) with both big and little adventures that celebrate each specific time of year.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“In a busy life, coming up with adventures can feel like one more thing on the to-do list, let alone figuring out when you’ll do them, though the answer to this, ironically, is to make more lists. When you have lists of practical adventures that you’ve dreamed up over time, you don’t have to think them up in the moment.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“A big adventure means something that requires a few hours—think half a weekend day. A little adventure could take just an hour or so, and fit on a lunch break or a weekday evening, as long as it is something out of the ordinary.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“building in a back-up slot, or open space generally, means acknowledging that we do not know, at the beginning of the week, all the tasks that we will need or want to deal with by the end of the week.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“. This means designating times on Monday and Tuesday for all of the week’s high-priority tasks. The minutes at the beginning of the week will feel a little full, but this is balanced by leaving the schedule more fluid later in the week. Any must-dos and want-to-dos should be finished by end-of-day Thursday. This leaves Friday as the default back-up slot for anything that comes up”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“plan tight, then plan light”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Give yourself a bedtime Plan on Fridays Move by 3 p.m. Three times a week is a habit Create a back-up slot One big adventure, one little adventure Take one night for you Batch the little things Effortful before effortless”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Tranquility is the state of being serene and peaceful, of being free from agitation.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Why we all need a night off I developed this rule because I have seen the difference it makes in my own life, a difference not dissimilar from the glow Hannah developed. I love to sing. So I’ve made a habit of seeking out community choirs wherever I live. After moving to New York City in 2002, I joined three ensembles as a way to get my work-from-home-self dressed and out of the apartment at least three evenings per week.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“come from this rule. One night off can change the entire rhythm of the week. If your night off is Tuesday, you feel more tranquil during a rough Monday-night bedtime routine, because you know this mini-vacation is coming up. You manage your energy during the Tuesday workday so that you’ve got plenty for the evening. You think through potential problems and ways”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“So, each week, take one evening (or an equivalent number of hours) off from family and work responsibilities and do something that makes life feel meaningful and fun. This evening or block of weekend time can be spent as you wish, but ideally, it features a commitment to an activity, like playing on a softball team, being part of a community drama troupe, or, like Hannah, going to a regular meet-up with specific people for a specific purpose.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Building a career—and raising a family—are meaningful activities, but they require a lot of energy. To do our best, we need time we can count on to recharge, apart from these obligations. We need time to do things we find intrinsically energizing for ourselves, as individuals.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“I know the explanations, and there’s no doubt that during the busy years, hobbies and personal passions tend to fall by the wayside. People will sometimes make space for flexible fun like reading, crafting, or solo exercise, and that’s great. But committing to something out of the house, and involving other people, that meets at a particular time, seems like an entirely different matter. There are all the logistics to consider. Plus there are other people’s schedules, and the question of whether chaos”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“does laughing with people you’ve known since childhood—and “during the activity you’re so focused on it you’re not thinking about the to-do list and other stresses in life.” Indeed, the first time she returned home after this bout of tennis tranquility, her husband told her, “You look like you’re glowing.” Not bad for a Tuesday, right?”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“It’s a simple thing, really. A two-mile trip. She’s home in time “to do the teeth and the prayers and the whole bedtime routine.” And yet, having this one night that she knows is for her, and is separate from her work and family responsibilities, has changed her perspective about her schedule—making her more relaxed, and making time in general more joyful. “I’m not great, but it’s fun, and it’s something I look forward to,” she says. Physical activity tends to make people feel good—as”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Implementation questions: What big adventure(s) did you experience this week? What little adventure(s) did you experience this week? What effects did you see in your life from doing something out of the ordinary? What challenges, if any, did you face while implementing this week’s strategy? Did anything make it difficult for you to plan adventures into your life, or to have the adventures you planned? How did you address these challenges? If you modified this rule, how did you do so?”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Think about this past week. Did you have any adventures, big or little? What were they? Now look ahead to next week. What big adventure would you like to have next week? Perhaps you already have an adventure planned; if so, write about that adventure, or share an idea for an additional adventure. When could you experience this big adventure? What little adventure would you like to have next week? When could you experience this little adventure? What obstacles might keep you from having these adventures? How can you address these challenges?”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Planning questions: What “big adventures” (taking a few hours) would you like to try in the next month? List at least three. What “little adventures” (taking about an hour) would you like to try in the next month? List at least three.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“somewhere in your house—maybe on a little evergreen tree at a time far removed from Christmas. Get one of those adult coloring books with whimsical patterns. Paint your nails an offbeat color; you can paint your toenails if you don’t want to share such personal expression with the world. Draw something fun on the driveway with chalk, such as the giant chalk game of Chutes and Ladders one study participant reported creating. Blow bubbles on a break. None of this is life-changing of course, but when things are different, seeing these fancies can nudge us out of the mindless state that tends to characterize day-to-day life. Hours always march into the past, but at least they can carry a little whimsy with them as they whistle on their way.”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“Maybe there’s something you can do to make your usual activities just a bit more memorable. Get matching T-shirts for a family excursion. Print up a silly photo for your desk, and switch it out frequently, or put a vignette outside your home office window (garden gnomes are the epitome of whimsy). Hang a disco ball or a string of lights”
― Laura Vanderkam, Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters