Sitting on the porch alone at night isn’t wasted time. It’s when the day finally gets sorted.

A day needs an ending, and most days do not get one. You go from the last task to a screen and then to sleep, so nothing is put down and it all turns up at two in the morning. Sitting outside in the dark gives the day somewhere to finish, and the sorting mostly happens without your help.

Take fifteen minutes outside tonight before bed, no phone, the lights off behind you. Let it be dull. If something is unresolved, say the one sentence about it out loud and leave it there. Most nights you will sleep better for having closed the day somewhere other than your pillow.