This will be the year of the Solo Day.

I no longer set new year’s resolutions. Instead, I give myself tools for it: a fresh vision board, a new dailies notebook, a new daily reader.

For 2024, I’m adding a tool to my box, the solo day, one each month. Twelve days out of a whole year seems doable.

I’m fortunate to consider taking twelve days for myself. Not everyone can hole up alone for twenty-four hours, especially not twelve times in a year.

But I can, so, with tremendous gratitude for this privilege, I will.

What is a solo day?

I’m making this up as I go, but this is how I envision these twelve golden nuggets of solo time for 2024.

• Restrictions:
  • No people
  • No phone
  • No check-ins
  • No social media
  • No notifications
  • No streaming movies or shows
• The do’s
  • Sleep in
  • Change up the routines
  • Read
  • Write
  • Listen to music
  • Make art
  • Walk and move
  • Putter and piddle
  • Nap
  • Explore

I didn’t include “No computer” or “No work” because I write creatively on the computer and still work full time. Some solo days, I’ll need to work and answer work emails. Fortunately, my work team is not overly “chatty” or invasive.

Another consideration: my people need a way to contact me in case of emergency. Email it is.

Even on the less-than-ideal solo-day workdays, I will have hours of time to read, piddle, walk, nap, write, and explore. We have over ten tall, packed bookshelves, but I can’t remember the last time I explored them. I can see a whole solo day sitting next to a bookshelf, pulling out books, opening to random pages, and reading.

I’m not sure exactly how the solo day will play out nor if the people in my life will get on board, but I’ll try. I know I’ll need to navigate the schedules, if not pushback, of others. And I suspect that at first I’ll be fidgety, like when I sit down to write and need fifteen minutes to settle in. But once I embrace the soloness, I expect transformative moments. Or, at least, a nice break and some good rest.

What tools will you give yourself for this new year?

©Pennie Nichols. All Rights Reserved. 2023.