Self-help program
9. Make transitions smoother
Do you recognize chaotic rushing in your daily life from one place or task to another? If so, try to calm especially the actual leaving by taking a moment and focusing on physically leaving.
Exercise 1: Checklist to help you get started
Why?
When moving from one place to another, there is a risk of forgetting important things or items.
In this exercise, you will create a checklist to help make leaving home smoother.
How?
Make yourself a checklist of things that would make your departure easier. Use the examples below as a guide. Think especially about risks in your own life—what have you forgotten before? What has caused problems in the past?
Copy the items into your phone’s notes app, or print the list and place it on your front door.
You can make a similar list for everyday evenings. What could you prepare already in the evening to make your morning easier?
Tips for mindful departures
Allow enough time to get out the door
- Plan and prepare as much as you can in advance.
- The more things are thought through beforehand, the easier getting out the door will be.
- Choose your outfit and pack your belongings ahead of time.
- Set calendar reminders for this.
- Check the weather for the next day in the evening.
Pause for a moment when you’re about to leave
- Stop talking.
- Don’t think about past or future matters.
- If you need to, politely tell others that you need a quiet moment.
Think: where are you going and where are you leaving from?
- What are you going to do? What things are essential to remember?
- What did you forget last time?
Make checklists
- What do you always need to remember when leaving home?
- What do you need to check when leaving work? Use the exercise below.
If leaving doesn’t go well
- At a good time, calmly think about what happened.
- Don’t criticize yourself—identify the points where you could act differently next time.
- Write these down or set reminders in your calendar.