The Soft Week Menu: Tiny Rituals That Can Change a Day

Hi Besties, Welcome to this week’s Soft Week Menu. Think of this as a menu, not a checklist. I’m sharing what I’m reading, reaching for, resetting, and thinking about this week, but you absolutely do not need to do all of it. Pick what sounds good and leave what doesn’t. Remember, your soft week doesn’t need to be full. It just needs to feel like yours. Last week, we talked about the joy of being a beginner again, and I’ve been thinking about what happens after we begin. We return. We pick up the book again tomorrow, color another page, and or sit down with the puzzle for ten minutes. Somewhere along the way, those tiny repeated actions stop feeling like random things we do and start becoming rituals. I’ve realized that the rituals that make the biggest difference in my life are rarely elaborate. They’re usually so small I could easily overlook them. Reading for a little while when my brain needs somewhere else to go. Coloring when I need my hands occupied but my mind quiet. Making a cup of something I love and actually sitting down to drink it. Those things don’t transform my entire life, but they can absolutely transform an ordinary Tuesday, and I think we underestimate how much that matters.

This Week’s Soft Week Menu

Reading

• If your brain needs somewhere gentle to go (my pick) is: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• If you’re already craving autumn: Pick a classic books better read in fall, even if the weather hasn’t caught up yet.
• If you’re holding onto summer: Choose a summer classic book and give yourself permission to stay exactly where you are seasonally.

Hobby

• If you need something creative but low-pressure (my pick) is: Coloring and specifically, color one page. I’ll be spending time with pages from our upcoming Bookish Halloween coloring book this week but you can check out the other bookish coloring books.
• If you need your brain to focus on one thing: Work on a jigsaw puzzle for ten or twenty minutes.
• If you want to make something: Bake, journal, sketch, crochet, scrapbook, or choose any creative hobby that leaves you with something tangible at the end.

This Week’s Focus

Notice what already makes your days better.
Instead of building an entirely new routine, I’m paying attention to the tiny things I already do that make me feel calmer, more grounded, or more like myself.

Ritual

Create one tiny daily anchor.
Choose something small enough that it doesn’t become another obligation: ten pages before bed, tea after lunch, five minutes outside, a coloring page after dinner.

Reset

Make the ritual easier, not more impressive.
Put the book beside the bed. Leave the puzzle out. Keep the coloring supplies somewhere you can actually reach them. Remove the friction between you and the things that make your days better.

Question to Carry

What tiny ritual makes me feel most like myself?

Reading: Giving My Brain Somewhere Gentle to Land

I am officially wrapping up my reading for the Fall Reading Guide this week, and Besties, I need a palate cleanser. I love reading ahead, and discovering upcoming books before they’re released, figuring out which ones I want to recommend, and eventually seeing the entire seasonal guide come together. But there comes a point after reading so many books for a specific purpose when my reader brain starts asking for something completely different. Right now, apparently, it wants The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Is this the most seasonally appropriate choice? Not really. I think of The Wind in the Willows as much more of a spring-into-summer classic, and here we are in August with fall beginning to hover at the edges of everything. But that’s what I’m craving, so that’s what I’m reading. I’ve learned not to fight those instincts. One of the things that has kept me reading consistently; even when reading is also part of my work, is allowing my personal reading life to wander wherever it wants. Sometimes the best palate cleanser isn’t another new release. It’s an old story, a children’s classic, a book you haven’t opened in years, or something completely different from whatever you’ve been consuming lately. If you’re already craving crisp air and autumn reading, I’ll link my list of fall classics here so you can start leaning into the season. And if you’re looking outside and thinking, absolutely not, it is still summer, I’ll also link my summer classics list. Pick your own reading season, because the calendar doesn’t get the final say.

Hobby: The Things I Keep Coming Back To

Coloring is back on the menu. At this point, I don’t even know why I announce it every week as though any of us are surprised. But this week there is something new to color, because the proof for Bookish Halloween arrived over the weekend. I have been flipping through the pages, looking at all the little details, and I already know I’m going to have a ridiculous amount of fun coloring some of them this week. Bookish Halloween will be out August 18, and seeing the physical proof makes the whole thing feel real in a way that staring at files on a screen never quite does. We’ve spent basically the entire summer working on these coloring books.

• Cozy Reading came first.
• Then Bookish Quotes.
• Now Bookish Halloween is almost here.
• Meanwhile, we’re deep in the weeds working on the Christmas book, which we’re hoping to release in September, and the final two books in the series are planned for late November and December.

So yes, while I’m telling all of you about tiny daily rituals, there is quite a lot happening behind the scenes over here. Maybe that’s exactly why I’ve become so attached to coloring. There’s the work of making the books, planning them, reviewing pages, filming content, and getting everything ready to send out into the world. Then there’s the completely different experience of sitting down with the finished page and simply coloring it. That second part feels like mine.

I’m also still working on my summer jigsaw puzzle, and I’m taking my sweet time with it. No puzzle marathon (unless you want to) and no need to finish it by Sunday. I just return to it when I feel like it and add a few pieces. If you’re looking for one of your own, it’s from my list of 9 Summer Jigsaw Puzzles for Cozy Screen-Free Fun. And if coloring sounds more like your speed, I’ll also link my posts about our first two collaborations, Cozy Reading and Bookish Quotes, so you can see what we’ve been creating. The point isn’t that you need to color or do puzzles because I do. The point is to find the activity you naturally want to return to. That’s usually where your ritual is hiding.

This Week’s Focus: Stop Looking for the Perfect Routine

I’ve tried enough routines over the years to know something about myself: The routines that look best on paper aren’t necessarily the ones that make my life better. Different things work for different seasons in my life, but what I’ve discovered is, there’s a difference between a routine and a ritual. A routine says, “This is what I do” and a ritual says, “This is a moment I value.” That distinction has been on my mind this week. Because when we talk about creating softer days, the temptation is to design an entire ideal routine. Wake up at this time, journal, exercise, make the perfect breakfast, read, meditate, and do twelve other things before 8 a.m. And suddenly our supposedly soft routine has become another performance we’re trying to keep up with. I’m much more interested in daily comfort rituals that can survive real life. A few pages before bed, ten minutes with a puzzle, coloring while something plays in the background, the first sip of tea in a quiet kitchen, opening the curtains in the morning, or going outside for a few minutes when the afternoon starts dragging. Just tiny things, but that’s exactly why they work. You don’t need an entirely new lifestyle to make your days feel different. Sometimes you need one small moment you can reliably return to.

Ritual: Choose One Daily Anchor

So here’s what I’m trying this week. I’m choosing one tiny anchor for my day, not five, and not an elaborate morning and evening routine, just one. For me, I think it’s going to be reading something purely for myself at the end of the day. No Fall Reading Guide research or reading because I need to know whether a book belongs on a list. Just The Wind in the Willows, my bed, and however many pages I feel like reading. Your anchor can look completely different. Maybe you make coffee or tea and sit somewhere other than your desk for ten minutes. Maybe you take a short walk after dinner, color while listening to an audiobook, or work on your puzzle before turning on the television. The important thing is that it feels comforting rather than demanding. Because if your ritual becomes another thing you feel guilty about skipping, we’ve missed the point entirely.

Reset: Make Comfort Easy to Reach

This might be the most practical thing I’m carrying into the week: Make the things you want to do easier to do. I think sometimes we assume we lack discipline when really we’ve just created too much friction. If the book you want to read is buried on a shelf, you’re more likely to grab your phone. If your coloring supplies are packed away somewhere inconvenient, you’re less likely to color. If the puzzle has to be unpacked and repacked every time you touch it, you probably won’t work on it for ten minutes. So instead of trying to become more disciplined this week, I’m making comfort easier. Leave the book on the nightstand, put the colored pencils where you can see them, keep the puzzle out if you have the space, and prepare the tea you actually want to drink. Tiny rituals become part of our lives when we don’t have to negotiate with ourselves every time we want to do them. And maybe that’s the real secret to a softer routine. Not more willpower, but less friction.

The Question We’re Carrying This Week

What tiny ritual makes me feel most like myself? Not the ritual you think you should have, or the one that looks aesthetically pleasing online, just yours. Maybe it’s reading in bed. Maybe it’s sitting in the car for five quiet minutes before walking into the house. Maybe it’s making the same breakfast every morning. Maybe it’s calling someone while you fold laundry. Maybe it’s coloring at the kitchen table. Think about the moments when you feel settled into your own life. There’s probably a ritual hiding there, and once you notice it, protect it.

Final Thoughts

This week’s Soft Week Menu isn’t asking us to overhaul anything. That’s what I like about it. I’m finishing an intense stretch of Fall Reading Guide reading and reaching for The Wind in the Willows because apparently that’s exactly where my brain wants to go. I’m coloring pages from Bookish Halloween after spending the summer helping create these books. I’m still slowly working on the same puzzle. None of those things are revolutionary. But they make my days better. And I think I’ve reached the point where I’m much more interested in building a life from small things that reliably work than constantly searching for the next big routine that’s supposed to change everything. So choose something from this week’s menu, you don’t need all of it, just pick the thing that sounds like it might make tomorrow feel a little better. Your soft week starts here. I’d love to know what’s on your Soft Week Menu this week. What tiny ritual makes you feel most like yourself? And if you’re borrowing something from this week’s menu, tell me what you’re choosing in the comments.