Leave It at the Door

This is a two-minute practice for the moment you walk in, so the day stays on the other side of the door.

Try it tonight if you are open to it. If it does not fit, that is also fine.

The practice

1. Pick one object you touch every time you get home. Keys. Backpack. Badge. Shoes.
2. Before you put it down, stop for one breath. Say what the day was, in one sentence, out loud or in your head. "That was the day the launch got pushed back." "That was the day he asked me a question I did not have the answer to."
3. Put the object down. That sentence goes with it. The day is now on the hook, or by the door, or in the bag. It will be there in the morning. It does not need you tonight.
4. Walk in.

If it does not work the first time

It will not, always. Some nights the day follows you in anyway. Notice that it did, and try again the next night. The practice is the habit of stopping at the door, not a guarantee about what happens after.

Two minutes on the first night. Ten seconds by the second week.

Variations that have worked for other people

• Feet on the grass for one minute before going inside.
• Sitting in the car in silence, engine off, for the length of one song with nothing playing.
• Writing the one sentence on a sticky note and leaving it on the dashboard.

None of these is better than the others. The tricky part is finding the one that works for you.