Recovery fails when the day is asked to carry a whole life. This practice is small on purpose. Do it in the morning if you can. If the morning is already ruined, do it when you notice you are awake.
Quiet
Ten minutes without a screen. Sit. You are not required to feel peaceful. You are required to stop adding noise. If the mind runs, let it run, and return to the feeling of sitting.
One inventory
Ask two questions, and answer them on paper:
- Where was I dishonest, cruel, afraid, or selfish since yesterday?
- Where was I given something I did not earn: patience, food, a kind word, another day?
Write the answers in sentences, not in a mood. If you owe an apology that would not injure anyone, plan the apology. Do not send it in the heat of the inventory.
Prayer
Speak to God as you understand God. If that phrase is still empty, read A God of your understanding once, then return.
A usable prayer is plain: ask to be kept from the first drink or the first compulsive act today. Ask for knowledge of the next right thing, and the willingness to do it. Thank God for one concrete mercy, even if the only mercy is that you are still reading.
More on this is in Prayer and listening.
One reading
Read a single essay, or a single page of the guide. Stop at the end of it. Rereading a true paragraph is better than collecting five.
One person
Send a message or make a call. Say something true about the day. Ask how the other person is, and listen. If you have no such person yet, find a meeting and say your name.
When you want the longer spiritual shape under this practice, continue to the Steps and a Higher Power.