Where Flow Goes to Die: The Day After the Day After
Steven Kotler: Annals of the Dread Hell Schedule, Recovery
1 min read · 26.7.2025
“Last week, I showed you how to summer-proof your routine—one schedule for home, one for the road.
“But there’s still a disruptor lurking. One that wrecks momentum fast.
“The real culprit? The day after the day after. The day you return from a trip, re-enter your life, and get steamrolled by everything that didn’t get done while you were away and now must get done. Immediately. Or else.
“Maybe.
“Thing is, the day after travel, you’re wide open to redline. Energy low. Cognitive load already overloaded. Nervous system? Frayed, frazzled, a few steps from falling apart.
“The fix? A third schedule. The one that applies the day you get back.
“A Recovery Day Schedule.
“I always start a recovery day with my standard morning writing session. Not because I’m ready for it—but because it kickstarts my schedule memory and delivers the goal-setting win of getting my most important task done early. Easy victory.
“After that, I downshift. My usual clear goal list runs eleven items deep. Post-travel, I drop it to two or three. I meet with my team, get the download, knock out what can’t wait—and then: enforced recovery.
“I read. Sauna. Meditate. Hydrate. Maybe do a short, restorative yoga routine. And—crucially—I don’t stress about what I’m not doing.
“Peak performers aim for excellence. But when excellence isn’t possible—because the system is tapped—it’s time to walk away. Go slow to go fast. Recover now, flow later.
“Otherwise, it’s struggle, struggle, struggle… and since you’re not in flow, you’re not doing great work, so you’ll just have to redo it, or let it tank the bottom line—or both.
“So: Home Schedule. Away Schedule.
“Recovery Day Schedule—a three-point plan for surviving summer schedule hell.”
Reference:
Steven Kotler. Where Flow Goes to Die: The Day After the Day After. Flow Dispatch. Annals of the Dread Hell Schedule, Take Two. Newsletter. 22.7.2025.
