What to do on rainy days

First things first: the aim isn’t to find a perfect substitute. It’s not to lose the thread. A rainy day handled well is anything that keeps the habit alive, even if it lasts five minutes and looks nothing like the usual.

And sometimes the right answer is to go out anyway and get a bit wet.

Why this day matters more than the others

Because the rainy day is the one that breaks the streak. Not a lack of motivation or tiredness: the legitimate excuse, the one nobody argues with.

And we know what happens after a broken day — the ‘well, I’ve stopped now’ does more damage than the rain. That’s why it’s worth deciding in advance what you’ll do when the sky turns grey, instead of making it up while staring out of the window.

1 · Go out anyway

The option almost nobody considers, and it works better than you’d think. Rain isn’t dangerous: it’s uncomfortable for a bit.

There’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes — and here, the right ones aren’t an umbrella, which takes up a hand and turns inside out at the first gust. It’s a hood and a pair of shoes you don’t mind getting wet. With those, a walk in the rain stops being a sacrifice and becomes rather pleasant — the streets are empty, everything smells different and you walk faster.

A practical tip: do a short loop, without straying far from home. That way you’re never more than five minutes from a hot shower, which is what takes the dread out of going out.

2 · Swap the street for somewhere with a roof

If it’s really pouring — the sideways kind — the street isn’t worth it. But you can walk in lots of places:

The stairs in your building. Up and down two or three times is more than it sounds, and you know going up is hard work. It’s the option that’s literally on your landing.

Errands on foot, but under cover. The covered market, the arcade, the big shopping centre. Not much of a view, but they’re steps.

Your home. Putting music on and moving up and down the hallway sounds ridiculous until you do it. Nobody can see you.

3 · The minimum version, and move on

If the day has gone sideways too and it’s raining on top of that, the answer is five minutes of anything. Stretching in the living room, one flight of stairs, nipping out for bread the long way round.

It isn’t the same as your usual walk, and that’s fine. What you’re protecting today isn’t the exercise: it’s the habit still existing tomorrow.

What doesn’t work

‘I’ll do double tomorrow.’ It turns the habit into a debt, and debts get abandoned. Tomorrow you do tomorrow’s.

Looking up a forty-five-minute video. On a day you don’t fancy going out, you don’t fancy a full session in the living room either. You end up watching the video, not doing it.

Waiting for it to clear up. It clears up at nine at night and you don’t go out. Deciding at six is really deciding.

And sometimes, nothing

Let’s be clear, or this turns into one more obligation: a day off ruins nothing.

If it’s raining, you’re tired and you fancy staying on the sofa, stay. Resting counts too, and forcing yourself out on a rainy day so as not to break a streak is exactly the kind of rigidity that ends up sinking the whole habit.

The only rule is the usual one: not two days in a row.

Start today: decide now, while the sky is clear, what you’ll do the next time it rains. Decided in advance, it gets done.