Field Notes
Minimum Viable Day
A survival ritual for burnout. Use it when everything costs too much and the honest answer is a smaller day, not a better attitude.
Use this ritual when Burnout Dragon has scorched your reserves and every ordinary task now costs triple. The point is not to be lazy. The point is to stop budgeting energy you do not actually have.
The oath
I will name what must happen. Everything else is optional until proven otherwise.
One recovery action goes on the list before a single new task does.
How to use it
- List only what truly must happen today. If it can wait until tomorrow without real consequences, it waits.
- Add one recovery action to the list: a nap, a walk, a meal, silence. It is not optional.
- Cross off anything you added from habit, guilt, or fantasy fuel.
- Do the surviving list in any order. Stop when it is done.
Why it helps
- It matches the plan to the actual fuel supply instead of yesterday's capacity.
- It protects recovery from being the first thing cut.
- It lets you finish a day instead of failing a bigger one.
Use it when
Simple things now feel steep, and rest keeps getting postponed because there is always more to carry.
You need a smaller day, not a more inspiring plan.
Minimal prompt
Minimum Viable Day
Must happen: [ ] [ ] [ ]
Recovery action: ___________________________
Cut from habit/guilt: ___________________________
When the list is done, I stop.