My Typical Day

One of the things I get asked – a lot – is how I manage to get things done. People want to see my schedule to see what magic I work to be productive. There is no magic – it is simply regular routines that help me keep on track.

My Weekday

Since I work outside the home at a client site, my schedule is pretty regular.

6:00 AM Alarm goes off. I go downstairs, pour a cup of coffee, and hit my writing studio. I spend 30 minutes writing fiction.
6:30 AM I go downstairs and prepare my breakfast. This is usually eggs with veggies or yogurt and berries. Another cup of coffee. I read my favorite comics on two websites.
6:45 AM If I didn’t plan my day the night before, I pull out my digital planner and go through my tasks for the day. I bounce these against my calendar, and timeblock.
7:00 AM I now continue with my morning routine. This involves 5 minutes of journaling/brain dumping and 15 minutes of reading non-fiction.
7:25 AM I head back upstairs, where I do yoga stretching for 10 minutes and have some focus/meditation for 10 minutes. Then I get ready for work.
8:00 AM I am back downstairs, where I make a list for husband and daughter of tasks to be done (hubbie works from home). I grab my lunch, purse and coffee cup and head to work.
8:20 AM – 3:00 PM I am at my client site, doing their tasks.
3:15 PM I arrive home and change into exercise clothes. I will start dinner if necessary. If it is a gym day, I will putter around until it’s time to leave, otherwise I will do my cardio and then shower.

My Weekday Evenings

Not all of my weekday evenings have a planned activity. If I have something scheduled then I block out the time on my calendar. But there are two evenings that have blocks that are for me: Tuesdays are blogging nights, and Thursdays I have a block on my calendar to craft. If my calendar should conflict with one of these blocked times, I move the block to another night.

Here is the general schedule:
6:00 pm Eat dinner and clean up
6:30 pm Commute time (if necessary), or working on something around the house
7:00 pm Blogging (usually Tuesday), WSC or Girl’s night (Tuesday); Choir (Wednesday); Crafting (Thursday); Girl Scouts (2 times per month)
9:00 pm Wrapping up for the night. I make coffee, clean the kitchen counters and swiffer the dog hair off the floors downstairs. Then I head upstairs, shower, prepare my plan for the next day and head to bed.

My Weekend

My weekends follow the same pattern, except that I get up around 7:30. Once I am at the point where I would go to work (if it were a workday), I get on with the day’s activities. This could include running errands, spending time with my family, working outside, going to church, meeting friends or cooking for the week. In any case, I try not to structure the time too heavily in order to give my soul a break. 🙂

I hope you are convinced that there is no magic involved in my schedule. I don’t have any more hours than anyone else, but I use my structure as a place to get things done.

Image by Lorie Shaull. Licensed under Creative Commons. Text added.