In today’s episode I am going to go through what my typical day looks like as an employee working 4-5 shifts/week, graduate student, wife, and mother to a 2.5 year old child.
Let’s start with sleep.
I get a minimum of 6 hours/night sleep and an average of 6-8 hours of sleep every night.
I generally wake up around 4-6 AM depending on the time I went to bed. I do not set my alarm. I let my body wake up on its own.
I try to go to bed early though so I get up at 0400 because 4-6 AM are my peak hours. It is when my brain works the best. It is the time when my mind is clear and information flows a bit faster so I leave all school, content creation, and anything I need to complete for the week in my to do list at that time.
0400: I wake-up. I do not jump out of bed to start my day. I first reflect on my task list and how my body is feeling. I listen to my body. I am a mom so if my child was not having a great night sleep then my sleep is affected so I tend to sleep-in those nights.
If I decide to sleep-in, I tend to take 8 hours of sleep and it may not be a good sleep if my son is sick or just having a restless night but 8 hours in total in the bedroom.
If I decide to get-up and start my day:
- I charge my phone if I did not charge it last night. Sometimes I do this to ensure while I am doing my big picture goals in the morning, my phone is away from me; therefore, no interruptions. Though, my phone is hardly a distraction for me because once I start writing and doing things I just focus and forget about everything else. Sometimes, when I look at the time I often did not realize I spent two hours of work already which is why I set an alarm prior to starting to remind me that I need to stop working and start getting ready to go to my actual work.
- I go downstairs to the kitchen and make my latte using my favorite Nespresso machine.
- While waiting for my latte, I put away dishes in the dishwasher, washed the dirty dishes that were not washed last night, and prepared my son’s bag for daycare. Refilling diapers and making sure he still has wipes in the bag. He is not potty trained yet.
- I then turned my laptop on and at the same time review my agenda again (paper agenda) to see what needs to be done.
0430- 0600 or 0700: I work on my big picture goals. They are my must-do tasks and my non-negotiable.
- School work (projects, readings, and home works)
- Content creation (drafts) and sometimes record a podcast. Currently, I am using the Kitchener Public Library Heffner studio to record my podcast as it is just so much better and it is a great space surrounded with people who are experts in this field.
- On Sunday’s I have the 5 AM weekly blueprint. This terminology is from the book The 5 AM club and it essentially means for me to plan my weekly tasks for the coming week and I check the family agenda, as well, to ensure I am reminded in case there’s scheduling conflict with who picks up and drop off Axl (son).
0600 – 0700 or 0700 – 0800: I get ready for work.
If my husband is dropping me off:
0745: I wake up my husband so he can start the taper process to wake-up our little guy. Axl does not like people waking him up. He is like me. He wakes up when he wants to wake up – often 12 hours of sleep.
0800 – 0815: We both drop-off Axl to the home daycare which is just behind our house. Then he drops me off to work.
If I am commuting because I am seeing a patient at 0840 or I am expecting a busy day and I have to be mentally and physically ready, I go to work early to set-up, enjoy my coffee, and prepare for a busy day:
0600: get ready for work.
0713: Leave the house to take the bus. I am listening to podcasts, audio books, or reading a book while commuting.
0800: I am at work. I read school stuff, books, or listen to podcasts as I am setting up my work station while I sip on my coffee if I did not have one yet that morning because I decided not to wake up early.
0850 – 1700: I am focusing on work only with a lunch break in between. I try to focus solely on work related stuff at work and on my lunch break I hang out with my co-workers because it is hard to talk to them at work. We are all so busy and downtime is rare. Plus, they are a cool group of individuals who care so much for our patients that sometimes I feel they care more than the patients care for themselves. I enjoy having their company and I want to establish that relationship instead of being a task oriented person all the time. I love the people that I work with. Our work is getting challenging but it is a meaningful and fulfilling job.
After 1700: I often commute back home or to the gym. I am a fan of the ion train. It is so much more convenient. When I used to drive for work, staff parking was a little bit far. There is a shuttle but I cannot drive and listen to a podcast. My brain cannot focus on two critical things. I do not want to be distracted while driving because I wanted to focus on the concept that I am trying to learn. The books that I listen to or podcasts are self-help, personal finance, motivational, and productivity kind of topics. I listen to it intently because I am trying to learn and improve my ways.
If I go to the gym: I start my workout as soon as I get to the gym and finish at 1900.
2000: I am home and get Axl ready for bed.
If I go to the library because I am taking a class: I stay in the library usually until 2000. My husband is always at home early to hang out with Axl as I know I will not be home until 2100.
2100: I am either getting ready for bed or decide to work on my 0400 tasks.
If I need to go to bed early but cannot sleep: I take a magnesium pill and use a lavender bed spray to set the mood so I can sleep. It always worked.
If I feel like working on my big picture goals: I stay up until I feel sleepy and the latest I stayed up is midnight but will not wake up until the time I need to get ready for work.
This is essentially what my weekday looks like. My weekend is slightly different. Instead of work, I hang-out with Axl or get ready to visit my parents in Toronto with Axl for the weekend. My weekend is really all about Axl. If my husband is not working, I get to go to the gym and/or the library for a couple of hours and do some school work, work on my content like podcasts, or learn something new.
