Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters

“I’ve long loved Laura Vanderkam’s focus on achieving calm in the midst of our full and fast-moving lives, and this is an indispensable manual for doing just that. Tranquility by Tuesday offers plenty of inspiration for a more serene life — but also, no less importantly, down-to-earth and evidence-backed advice for actually making it happen.”
—Oliver Burkeman, NYT bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

“This book is truly great! Vanderkam offers well-researched ways to break away from the guilt and shame associated with doing something for yourself as well as strategies to create boundaries with everyone else for this time. Vanderkam helps us prioritize our time for the ultimate goal — to be interested in our own lives.”
—Eve Rodsky, NYT bestselling author of Fair Play and Find Your Unicorn Space

“Laura Vanderkam never promises her readers a better life without also telling them exactly how to achieve it. This book is well researched and so helpful, especially because it comes from a personal place for her. She understands the frustration and exhaustion so many of us are feeling, and she has found a way to feel better. Not just while you’re on vacation or over the weekend, but every day.”
—Celeste Headlee, author of Do Nothing, We Need to Talk, and Speaking of Race

 

About the Book

Are you sick of letting to-do lists dictate your time?  Do you find yourself hoping that someday, life will be less hectic? One day, you say, you’ll finally have time for the activities that you love – writing that book, completing that triathlon, traveling with friends. But if the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that life is unpredictable. If we’re not careful, dull, unfulfilling tasks can quickly occupy our precious hours, derail our best-laid plans, and make life feel like a slog.

In TRANQUILITY BY TUESDAY, based on a time diary study of over 150 people, you’ll learn nine tried-and-true “rules” to easily build opportunities for joy, nourishment, and fulfillment into your schedule. These strategies will help you make what you want happen, actually happen, instead of letting the minutiae of everyday life get in the way.

You will learn to:

  • Think about time strategically by creating a resilient, not perfect, schedule.
  • Become an autonomous steward of life’s possibilities and intentionally live the life you want to live.
  • Give yourself a bedtime, so you can have more control over your mornings and create a routine that sets you up for success.
  • Implement the “three times a week is a habit” mindset, understanding how doing something 3x a week can help you look at your time more holistically, and your life more compassionately.

The nine rules and stories shared in TRANQUILITY BY TUESDAY are for anyone who wants to stop feeling like they’re either racing against the clock or wishing time away. It’s time to enjoy life as it is now, instead of wistfully hoping for a more peaceful time.

Resources

Scorecard

Use this handy guide and checklist to keep you on track, so you can see which strategies are working for you and why. Download which size works best for you.

2-Page Scorecard OR1-Page Foldable Scorecard OR Social Media Scorecard

Book Club Discussion Guides

Interested in hosting a Tranquility by Tuesday book group? Use these discussion questions to guide the conversation.

Nine-Week Discussion Guide  OR One-Week Discussion Guide

Press

GMA logo Gretchen Rubin logo #AmWriting logo She Said / She Said Podcast logo

TBT In Real Life Videos