I think we all can relate to feeling extremely overwhelmed. You know, the kind of overwhelmed that leaves you feeling frozen? When daily tasks have piled up so high that it feels impossible to even know where to start, and both mental and physical burdens start to feel heavier and heavier, slowing us down and causing us to lose focus and motivation.

A reset day can mean different things to different people. You can have a self-care reset day, a business reset day, a relationship reset day, etc. The kind of reset day I want to talk about today is a general life reset day – to me, a reset day is a day that you dedicate to getting your life in order and refocusing yourself to reclaim motivation and drive!

I recently took a day off from any other commitments and had a reset day for myself. I needed the boost to get myself back on track and re-motivated! The ENTIRE day was dedicated to this, and by the end of the night I felt so empowered! I had gotten myself into motion again with a clear plan for how to move forward, and it felt amazing!

Below you can read about my reset day steps, and if you are like me and absolutely love lists, you can also download my FREE reset day checklist here to help you navigate through your own reset day!

1.Make your bed! I find that when I start the day making my bed, whether it is a reset day or not, I feel more prepared for the day! It is a way to kickstart the day in a positive way. Oftentimes GETTING STARTED is the hardest part, and making the bed gets you moving- it gets you started!

2. Write morning pages! After you have made your bed it is time to clear your mind a little- let’s get some of that mental clutter out of your head and onto paper to make room for a little more headspace and mental peace. Take about 30 minutes to write down ALL your thoughts without feeling like you need to write anything specific. Write stream-of-consciousness. The point is not necessarily to find order in your thoughts, it is simply to get them out of your head. I find that writing is one of the best ways to declutter my headspace!

3. Go for a walk! Go for a walk and get some fresh air! If you don’t want to go for a walk you can also do some yoga at home, a cardio session, or dance around your apartment. Anything that gets your body moving! Getting some fresh air while moving your body by going for a walk or working out outside is definitely a bonus, but if you can’t or don’t want to head outside, at least try to open up your windows to get a bit of fresh air! I find that movement and fresh air always helps energize, if even just a little!

4. Get ready for the day! Even though most of your reset day may be spent inside, I suggest taking the time to eat a healthy and nourishing breakfast, shower, get dressed and ready for the day- if that usually includes dressing up a little or doing your hair and makeup as well then go for it! I find that getting dressed and ready for the day instead of staying in pajamas all day really helps me feel mentally and physically equipped for the day. A reset day also shouldn’t be a “lounge around the house” kind of day, but rather a “let’s get things done and ordered” sort of day, and if your appearance mirrors this outlook it will mirror in your attitude as well.

5. Clean your space! The space around you is often a reflection of how you are feeling mentally, and similarly the way you live can affect your mood. If your surroundings are chaotic your thoughts might feel more chaotic as well. The next step when taking a reset day is to clean the space around you!

We don’t want the entire day to be taken up by cleaning, but choose a spot in your house or one task that you would like to focus on and get done. For this step I do suggest setting a timer to make sure you don’t get lost in cleaning and spend your entire day with this. Set a timer for 30-60 minutes and clean until the timer goes off.

6. Make a list! Now that you have gotten ready for the day and your surroundings feel a little more manageable it is time to focus on the tasks and to-do’s! Take some time to brainstorm ALL of the tasks and to-do’s that are on your mind and write them down. I call this my Everything List and it is essentially a master to-do list of everything and anything I would like to accomplish or get done. Nothing is too big or small to go on this list.

If you are like me, you might often walk around with 100 unfinished ideas and 1000 thoughts of what you want or need to do. These ideas and thoughts clutter my mind and instead of just starting on one of them I feel overwhelmed and don’t start on any.

The point of this list is not to get everything checked off during your reset day, the point is to get all of the things in your mind into the world and to make the tasks and to-do’s feel tangible and manageable.

If you would be interested in hearing more about my method of using my Everything List/Master To-do List, let me know and I’ll write a separate blog post on that!

7. Tackle the Tens! Go through your Everything List and sort out anything that would take you 10 minutes or less to accomplish! Once you have a list of these 10 minutes or less tasks, set a timer for 30-60 minutes and start moving through the list, getting as many of the tasks done as possible within this time.

These ten minute or less tasks could be something like calling the doctor to make an appointment, answering an e-mail, taking the decluttered clothes to the donation box, google a question that has been on your mind etc. Even though you may not finish all of the tasks, each task done is a small weight lifted off of your shoulders!

8. Establish a Routine! It is easy to feel overwhelmed if there is a lack of structure or routine in your life, so the next step when taking a reset day is to create a routine to help keep you on track between now and your next reset day. Most likely you can’t control the structure of the middle of your days, but having a morning and evening routine to bookend your days will help structure your days and ensure that they are focusing on what is most important and essential to you.

Creating a routine is a whole process in itself, but in its simplified form, you want to choose a few things that are important to you, things that make you feel good, things that motivate and encourage you and put you in the right mindset for the day or for resting at night, and then incorporate those into your routines. My morning routine for example includes making my bed and saying affirmations out loud. My night routine includes a 10 minute clean-up of the apartment and reading a book.

The important thing is that you create a routine that will help you thrive mentally and physically day to day, and that will help keep the overwhelm and demotivation at bay!

That’s it!

With your space and mind both a little more organized and with a structured plan for how you are going to move forward, don’t allow yourself to lose this momentum. Tomorrow, hit the ground running! Use the momentum and clarity your reset day has given you to push you into a new day with a renewed sense of excitement and motivation!