Q1. When you wake in the small hours, what do you notice first?

The list starts — what's undone, who needs me, what tomorrow demands

Something older surfaces — a memory, a wish, a younger version of me

I start wondering whether this is the life I'd choose again

Something I want surfaces, and it isn't work

Q2. And then what happens?

I've protected my sleep, my weekends, my time off. I'm still tired in a way that doesn't shift

I've looked at the other thing — the course, the move, the different life. Looked, and not gone further

I've put energy into something outside the work — a cause, a board, mentoring someone. It helped, for a while.

I've started something small. Early days, but it's the part of the week I look forward to.

I'm tired in a way that sleep doesn't fix

I don't know what I actually want any more

I'm not sure what I've built still means anything to me

There's something I want to do, and I've told no one

I carry on, because people are relying on me

I keep saying I'll make space for what matters. It disappears again

I look entirely capable while something in me is questioning everything

One part of my week doesn't feel like going through the motions

Relief — then I genuinely don't know what to do with myself

A question surfaces that I usually manage to avoid

I go straight to the thing I never have time for

Believing there's still time to do something different

Knowing that what I do genuinely matters 