The Soft Week Menu: Making Room for What You Actually Want

Hi Besties, One thing I’ve learned over the years is that a soft life isn’t created by having less to do. It’s created by making sure the things you love still have a place in your week. There are seasons when life feels wonderfully spacious, and there are seasons when the calendar seems determined to fill itself. Right now, I’m somewhere in the middle. I’m deep in reading for the Fall Reading Guide, trying to stay ahead of upcoming releases, juggling everyday responsibilities, and enjoying having my mum here to visit. And yet, I’ve been thinking about how important it is to leave a little room for the things we choose. Not the things we have to do, the things we want to do. That’s the theme of this week’s Soft Week Menu. Making space for the books you’re genuinely excited about, the hobbies you already love, and making room for small joys before life decides what’s left over. So if your week is feeling a little crowded, consider this your reminder that your own interests deserve a place on the calendar too.

This Week’s Menu

Reading

Mutual Discord by Liana De la Rosa
The Au Pair by Teddy Wayne

Hobby

Coloring pages, lemon cake, and finally baking puddings with my mum.

This Week’s Focus

Making room for the things I actually want to do.

Ritual

Choosing enjoyment before optimization.

Reset

Letting go of the pressure to turn every interest into productivity.

Question to Carry

What would I make time for if I stopped waiting for the perfect moment?

Reading: Protecting My Reading Life

One question I get fairly often is how I avoid reading slumps when reading is such a large part of my work. The answer is surprisingly simple: I don’t only read for work. Right now, I’m deep into reading for the Fall Reading Guide. Just like the Summer Reading Guide covered books publishing in May, June, July, and early August, I’m now reading ahead for the books releasing throughout the fall season. I genuinely love that part of my creating content, but I’ve also learned that the readers who last are the readers who continue reading for themselves even when they create content.

That’s why the books I share in the Soft Week Menu are usually the books I’m choosing because they sound fun, interesting, or exciting to me personally. This week, I’m looking forward to Mutual Discord by Liana De la Rosa. I absolutely loved her Luna Sisters books, so the moment I saw she had a new release, it immediately went onto my list. I’m also hoping to pick up The Au Pair by Teddy Wayne. The premise sounds deliciously messy in the best possible way, which is exactly what I sometimes want from a page-turner. I’ll report back next week with my thoughts, but for now, these are the books I’m carving out reading time for simply because I want to.And honestly, I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve remained such a consistent reader over the years.

Hobby: Coloring Pages, Lemon Cake, and One Last Baking Project

Coloring remains firmly planted on my Soft Week Menu. At this point, I think we can officially call it a recurring menu item. Whenever life feels busy, I find myself returning to hobbies that don’t ask much from me. Coloring has become one of those reliable comforts. It’s simple, familiar, and always helps me slow down. As for baking, last week’s pudding plans didn’t exactly go as planned. My mum, husband, and boys all requested lemon cake instead, and honestly, I couldn’t argue with them. So the pudding project was postponed. But before my mum heads home, we’re finally making it happen this week.

One thing I’ve been appreciating lately is how often the best family memories happen while we’re making something together. The finished dessert is lovely, of course, but the conversations in the kitchen tend to be the part I remember most. That’s the kind of hobby I want more of. The kind that creates an experience, not just an outcome.

This Week’s Focus: Making Room for What You Actually Want

I think adults become very good at scheduling obligations. Appointments, work, errands, household responsibilities, and more. What we’re often less intentional about is scheduling things we genuinely enjoy. We assume we’ll get to them if there’s time left over. The problem is that there’s almost never time left over. Which means the things we love slowly become things we keep postponing. I’ve been trying to challenge that mindset lately. Instead of asking what I need to get done this week, I’ve started asking what I want to make room for. It’s a subtle shift, but it changes everything. Because a soft life isn’t built from squeezing joy into the leftover corners of our schedule. It’s built by giving joy a place at the table.

Ritual: Choosing Enjoyment Before Optimization

Maybe it’s because I spend so much time around books, productivity conversations, and goal setting, but I’ve noticed how easy it is to turn every interest into a project.

• Reading becomes a challenge.
• Baking becomes a skill to master.
• Hobbies become side hustles.
• Even rest starts feeling like something we’re supposed to optimize.

This week, I’m practicing the opposite. I’m choosing enjoyment first. Not because it’s productive. Not because it helps me achieve something. But simply because I enjoy it. That feels like a small act of rebellion these days, and maybe a necessary one.

Reset: Letting Interests Be Interests

One of the quietest mindset shifts I’ve made recently is allowing myself to have interests that don’t lead anywhere. Not every book needs to become content, not every hobby needs a goal, and not every activity needs to be useful. Sometimes things can simply be enjoyable. That sounds obvious, but I think many of us need permission to remember it. This week, that’s the reset I’m carrying with me. Less pressure, more curiosity, and more room for things that make life feel good.

The Question We’re Carrying This Week

What would I make time for if I stopped waiting for the perfect moment? Maybe it’s a book sitting on your nightstand. Maybe it’s a hobby you’ve been meaning to revisit. Maybe it’s a recipe you’ve wanted to try. Maybe it’s something completely different. Whatever comes to mind, consider this your invitation to stop waiting. The perfect moment rarely arrives. Sometimes we have to create it ourselves.

Final Thoughts

This week’s Soft Week Menu feels like a reminder that joy doesn’t have to be earned. Sometimes it’s a book you’ve been excited to read. Sometimes it’s coloring pages you’ve returned to for the hundredth time. Sometimes it’s a lemon cake that unexpectedly replaces your original plans. And sometimes it’s simply making room for the things that make you feel like yourself. Your soft week starts here. I’d love to know what’s on your Soft Week Menu this week. What are you reading, reaching for, resetting, or learning right now? Let me know in the comments.