I recently added Dan Mall’s RSS feed to my NetNewsWire, and all of his posts pushed through to my feed. As I was scrolling through them, I found a little series he did of what his typical work day looks like, and he credited several others who shared similar posts. In a moment of inspiration, I decided to share mine as well (it also felt like a simpler post to share as it’s been a few weeks):
6a - 8a
I’ll usually wake up anywhere between 5:30a and 6:30a and start my day with a work-out. I like to aim for an hour of physical activity, usually a Power Zone ride on the Peloton. Otherwise it’s some weight training. I try to stretch and meditate for about 10 minutes at the end of every workout.
I recently got into outdoor cycling, so if I’m trying to do an outdoor ride, I’ll try to wake up even earlier - around 4:45 am or 5 am. The loop I normally ride ends up taking about 90 minutes, and I don’t want to end up biking through the city during the morning rush-hour.
8a - 9a
Shower, get dressed and aim to be out the door by 8:30a. Even work is a little slow, I like to go into an office and see other people.
9a - 9:30a
I get into the office and start my day. I try to take the first 15-20 minutes of my day to plan out what I need to do - meetings, internal initiatives, professional development goals etc. I do all of this over a coffee and two Nature Valley Peanut Butter Bars.
9:30a - 12p
I prefer to use this time as heads down time. I find my mind is sharpest now and this is where I like to get my most important work done. Inevitably I usually have some meeting during this time so I try to block out heads down time on my calendar.
12p - 1p
At some point in this block of time, I try to take a 30-minute lunch. Depending on the day and number of meetings, this can sometimes be a quick inhalation of food during a meeting. I usually find myself eating at my desk watching something on YouTube, but on Wednesdays the company provides lunch and I try to socialize then.
1p - 5p
Post-lunch sleepies can hit me hard. A second cup, or even a third cup of coffee can help me power through. This is when I like to schedule most of my meetings - they help me over come the desire to slow down at work.
5p - 6p
I like to leave work around 5, 5:30p and get some between 5:30p and 6p. Michelle is usually back from work around then and walking Oscar, so we try to time our arrival home together.
6p - 8p
Dinner. One of the things Michelle and I love to do is cook together. We try to alternate who is head chef for the evening. It’s a fun time for us to catch up, talk about our day and spend some time with Oscar. We usually watch a show together while we eat.
Sometimes I’ll have a therapy session during this time, so we’ll either have an early or late dinner together.
8p - 9p
Time to relax. We usually do this in front of the TV, but sometimes we’ll take care of some house stuff, clean, etc.
9p - 10p
Either we end up reading or watching something while in bed. It’s hard to fall asleep early when the sun’s up so much later in the summer. Even though I try to fall asleep around 10p, I don’t usually drift off until 10:30p.
A few additional notes:
I love my routines. Even when I work from home, I’ll still have a coffee and two peanut butter bars.
If I’m working from home and have a slow day, I’ll sometimes work out at a different point in the day. As much as I like routine, it can be fun to spice things up at times. This will also translate to a more flexible start and end time. Sometimes I start early and end early, or start late and end a bit later.