Nothing to look forward to? 25 small things to put on your calendar this week

If you feel like you have nothing to look forward to, the fix is almost never a big trip. It's a rolling list of small, dated, already-planned things: one this week, one this month and one this season. You can set up anticipation on purpose, and it works best when the plan is already made for you. Here are 25 to start with.

For a long time, my calendar was full and my weekends were somehow empty. Work, errands, plans for other people, a lot of "we should." Nothing on it was something I was excited about. If that sounds familiar, you're not broken and you're not ungrateful. You're probably just out of practice at giving yourself things to look forward to, because they never arrive on their own.

Why joy keeps getting pushed to "someday"

We don't skip the fun because we don't want it. We save it. For a vacation, a milestone, the month things calm down. Many of us wait for a moment that feels special enough, then put it off again. The problem isn't desire. It's friction: the planning, the booking, the "what even should I do." Remove the friction and the joy stops being a someday item.

Quick picks

• Tonight: set the table for one and eat the nice thing.
• This week: write one real letter and mail it.
• This month: put a friend dinner on the calendar for the next three months.
• Want it planned for you? The Single membership sends one original experience a month for $19.99 plus shipping. The Signature membership sends four, one to open each week, like an advent calendar for your life.

This week: small and tonight-able

• Set the table for one on a Wednesday. Use the plates you save for guests and eat the nice thing, with no reason.
• Walk to the bakery you keep passing. Order the thing you always skip and eat it sitting down.
• Write a real letter. Paper, pen, stamp. Put it in a mailbox and let the future version of you be delighted when she hears back. Love You, Mean It ($25) has watercolor cards, a gold pen and prompts for two letters.
• Buy three books by their covers. Pick the one you read first tonight.
• Cook something from scratch you've never made. Fresh pasta is the gentle version: flour, water, patience and a playlist. Make Nonna Proud ($25) brings the cavatelli board and the recipe.
• Take a recess hour. A swing, a popsicle, no phone. It sounds silly until you're doing it. Early Dismissal ($25) comes with a pass to hand yourself.
• Light a candle at 7 p.m. Treat the evening as if it were booked, because now it is.
• Arrange flowers badly on purpose. A grocery-store bunch, three jars, no rules.

This month: worth putting on the calendar

• Book a class slightly outside your lane. Ceramics, floral design, a cooking class. Pay in advance so you show up.
• Put a monthly friend dinner on the calendar. First Thursday, next three months, in everyone's phone before you leave.
• Take a day trip to a nearby town with a bakery and a bookshop.
• Go thrifting with one rule: find a vessel with a past and turn it into a candle. A Second Light ($25) is built around exactly this hunt.
• Fly a kite. You'll crash it. That's the point.
• Pick a movie night with a friend and a book you both read the same month.
• Go to the farmers market, then cook what you bought.
• Reserve a solo dinner at the place you've been saving for an occasion.

This season: the long countdown

• Book a weekend away with a date and a deposit, so it stops being a someday.
• Pick a season project: learn one dish, one stitch, one song.
• Subscribe to something that arrives. Anticipation by mail is real. A monthly Single membership ($19.99 plus shipping, skip or cancel anytime before the 20th) puts a new experience on the calendar without you planning it.
• Plan Friendsgiving now. Pick the date, send the text. Our Friendsgiving ideas have the menu.
• Put a holiday tradition on the calendar. Tree lot night, cookie swap, a movie you rewatch every year.
• Buy tickets to something three months out. Concerts and plays you've already paid for are the best kind of countdown.
• Start a winter bucket list. Our winter bucket list is a decent place to steal from.
• Plan a friend's birthday like it's the event of the season.
• Take the one "someday" thing you keep saying out loud and give it a date before this season ends.

How to make it actually happen

• Give it a date. "Someday" isn't a date. "Thursday at 7" is.
• Make the first step tiny. Put the candle out, buy the stamp, send the text.
• Tell one person. A plan someone else is expecting is a plan you keep.
• Pay in advance when you can. A deposit is the best motivator there is.
• Choose things you're at least a little excited about. Skip the "should."

When it's more than a rut

A flat stretch is normal. If feeling like you have nothing to look forward to comes with low mood, loss of interest in most things or hopelessness that lasts weeks, please talk to a doctor or therapist. A planning list isn't a replacement for care.

Want something to look forward to, already planned?

That's why I started Romanticize Collective. Most of us save our fun for vacations and special occasions, but life mostly happens on the ordinary days in between. We're an experience club for women, designed and curated in Los Angeles. Each experience arrives with a guide I write and the core items to bring it to life, so the hardest part, deciding what to do, is already handled.

New members get $15 off their first month of Signature membership. Order by the 20th for next month's experiences. Best of Box and $25 experiences ship right away (5 to 10 business days).

FAQ

What do I do when I have nothing to look forward to?

Put small, dated plans on the calendar: one this week, one this month and one this season. Keep the bar low, make the plan specific enough that you can't talk yourself out of it, and where you can, choose things that are already planned for you.

How do I always have something to look forward to?

Keep a rolling list across three time horizons: tonight or this week, this month and this season. Anticipation works best when the thing has a date, a place on the calendar and someone or something expecting you.

Why do I feel like I have nothing to look forward to?

Often the calendar is full of obligations and empty of anything chosen. Most of us wait for a moment that feels special enough, which turns joy into a someday item. If it comes with a persistently low mood or hopelessness for weeks, talk to a doctor or therapist.

What are small things to look forward to?

A letter to write, a dinner for one at the good plates, a thrifting trip, a recess hour, a class, a monthly dinner with friends, a weekend with a deposit paid.

What is a good gift for someone with nothing to look forward to?

Something that arrives on a schedule or gives her a plan: a monthly experience, a $25 experience she can open when she needs one, or a night you plan together.

Written by Aly Aguilar, founder of Romanticize Collective, the experience club designed and curated in Los Angeles.

Aly here, founder of Romanticize Collective: original experiences that make ordinary days worth looking forward to again. Every experience is wrapped by hand by me, from my home in Los Angeles. If you want something new to look forward to each month, start with the Single membership, $19.99 plus shipping, skip or cancel anytime.