Theme Days

Monochrome Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Fun Fridays...

You might be familiar with these sorts of "theme days" as they apply to types of activities, clothing choices, or meals. Theme days can be a fun way to make each day in the week distinct in some day, and something to look forward to. I heard about this idea when listening to the Happier podcast co-hosted by sisters Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth Craft. (Gretchen also wrote a book you may have heard of called The Happiness Project, linked on the right side of this page, among others.) Their rationale for how "theming," or making each day of the week distinctive, might bring joy to people's lives is that it can break up the "daily slog" of a workweek, relieve "decision fatigue" about what to have for dinner, make longterm goals or projects feel more manageable, and give people something to fun look forward to!

Your themes don't need to be alliterative like "Wacky Wednesday," nor do they all have to do with the same thing like food. But, choose something you get excited about or something that makes you feel good, that you think you could do on a weekly basis. For example, I do like getting a little dressed up for work/school, but don't want to do this every day. Maybe I make Thursdays my "dress up" day, and pick out a special outfit to wear every Thursday. I could also implement "Friendship Fridays" where I make it a point to email or call 2 of my close friends I haven't spoken to recently; this will make me feel good, and will also help me feel productive on Fridays when I feel I'm just barely making it through... This is not to say I couldn't dress up nicely or reach out to friends on other days of the week, but marking a specific day for these things could help me remember to do it, and could be a special something to look forward to as well. 

Getting friends, classmates, and/or family members involved to join in your theme days adds another layer of excitement (and accountability for implementing your plan) too!

Here are some ideas of themes you could assign for days of the school or work week:

• Dress up Monday: Dress in your trendiest/newest/nicest/weirdest outfit.
• ​Creative Tuesday: Make it a point to create something by the end of the day. Maybe it's a full page of doodling, maybe it's a collage, maybe it's an entire webpage devoted to your passion for ice cream...
• Walking Wednesday: if you have a FitBit or another step-tracking device, intentionally make it a point to exceed your normal step goal. Maybe take a portable lunch with you on a walk, if you're allowed to leave your school building, and get in a few minutes of fresh air and exercise. 
• Kindness Thursday: Go out of your way to complete at least 3 small acts of kindness today. Help a kid who can't get his locker to open, pick up a pile of papers a teacher just dropped all over the hallway, get your sibling's breakfast for her. 
• Hawaiian Shirt Friday: Yep, break out a Hawaiian (or other flashy, festive) shirt, and bring a summer mindset to this final day before the weekend. 

In the comments below, please share your ideas for other themes! Also, if you give this a try, let us know how it goes!

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