The light switched on for yourself can make arriving home feel deliberately welcoming.

Leaving a light on is a small message from one version of you to another. The morning self, who has energy, is doing something for the evening self, who will not, and the effect on arriving is out of proportion to the act. Treating yourself as someone worth preparing for is not indulgence. It is the care you would extend to a guest, aimed in a direction people forget to aim it.

Before you leave tomorrow, do one thing for the person who comes back. Make the bed, leave the lamp on, set out what you will need.