the plan - july 2026
how I'm taking care of myself this month
Before we dive into this month’s plan, I’d love to hear from you. As I plan out this next chapter, I want your honest feedback and just 5 minutes of your time. I promise this is the last time I’ll ask this!
Okay, June. You weren’t awful.
June was about the same as May, and I have to remind myself that steadiness is success.
Here’s June, by the numbers (to date):
24 meditations
21 journal entries
9 strength workouts
6 books read
Two Can Play had me wishing for traffic so I could keep listening it. Reality Bites was a perfect ‘read it in a sitting when there’s no Love Island on’ book (thank you Emma Cain Louden for this very specific recommendation, it was perfect). I also heartily recommend these books (especially if you’re in a reading rut).
My therapist read me the riot act a couple of weeks ago. I was venting and offloading, and she stopped me and asked “why are you being such an asshole to yourself?”
I don’t know why, though I can tell you my anxiety has been spiking and I’ve felt myself slip into a depressive episode last week. The more anxious I am, the more controlling I get over everything and everyone around me, only to explode and then collapse into a puddle of tears.
Yes, that happened.
I’m still feeling tender from that episode, and perhaps that’s the theme I need for July.
July is a busy month—we have my mom’s 75th birthday and a big family reunion, two of my nieces performing their arangatram, and my own birthday (which I would like to treat as a normal day, if I’m being honest). Being tender might be the only thing I have any energy for this month.
habit tweaks this month
Oracle card pull + journaling - this deck has been the best addition to my life. I pull a card after my morning meditation, and read the description and journal about it. It’s pulled me out of my journaling rut, and it’s a beautiful way to practice spiritual rest.
Phone-less walks - there’s a short trail behind our home here in Pennsylvania (a little over a mile, about 22 minutes at a leisurely pace). After camp drop-off, I put my keys and phone in the house and hit the trail, walking it once or twice. It annoyingly makes me feel so much better — focused, clear-headed, and not nearly as scatterbrained.
A vibey playlist + a spritz while I cook - I’ve had to trade my usual weekend meal prep for cooking dinner every night. While the kids play outside, I press play on a vibey playlist and pour myself an Aplós or Ghia spritz. We eat as a whole family on the patio, and it’s become a beautiful way to end the day.
July’s workout plan
This month, I’m doing Robin’s 3 day advanced strength split. I progressively overloaded each of my strength workouts by 2-5 lbs over the course of June, and I feel like I’m ready for the challenge.
And if I’m not, I’ll fall back to June or May’s strength split, which are more approachable.
I’m continuing with my goal of 1 run a week, and how lucky am I that Camila is teaching a pop punk run on my birthday? If you’re around and have access to a treadmill on the afternoon of July 2nd, join me!
If you’d like to try Peloton, my link gives you a 60 day free trial.
I have yet to play tennis, but I hope to get on the court once a week this month. Or just once.
breaking my scrolling habit
My screen time was egregiously bad these past couple of months — averaging eight and a half hours of active screen time a day, the majority on Instagram, Threads, Reddit, and Peacock. Because your girl is deep in her Bravo and Love Island phase.
I’d seen my friend Catherine share her Brick routine months ago, and went looking for the screenshot I’d taken from her IG story. Couldn’t find it. So instead of asking her for it, I asked Claude for a routine built around my actual screen time usage and the goals it already knows I have for myself. I used this prompt:
Based on my screen time from last week, please recommend a schedule using the Brick device and app to help me reduce my screen time. Based on what I am picking my phone up for the most, and what I am picking my phone up the most, and what I am doing the apps I’m scrolling on my phone.
It gave me a very specific routine, which I built into my Brick app in a few minutes.
Since I started using it, my screen time has dropped to about three and a half hours a day, and my brain feels noticeably clearer and less erratic than it has in recent memory. I went through what genuinely felt like social media withdrawal; the first few days were rocky. But now it feels solid. My thoughts and opinions feel decidedly mine — not regurgitations of what I’ve been consuming online. And that feels amazing.
I did an exercise of habit stacking for quite a long time. It would start by using dr Benjamin Hardy’s prompting method. It would help me define my monthly goals across work, healthy. Community & relationships
Each month I would print out a calendar with my habit stacks on top horizontally and the date vertically and I would color in the days that I would do them. From my skin care routine to journaling to exercise.
Reading this June summary is giving me good reason to bring it back!
Oh, I've been so intrigued by the Brick, and I love how you're using it as part of your personal care routine. I have been hesitant because I do read on my devices, but I can get over that (and maybe finally make a dent in my physical TBR). Speaking of TBR, thanks for putting Reality Bites on my radar.