My morning did not look quite this beautiful
As I’ve been thinking about how people spend their mornings, I’ve been studying mine. Thursdays and Fridays are a bit different from my other mornings in that both my sons have pre-school at 9, and I am usually getting everyone out the door on my own. Here’s what it looked like.
7:30-7:35 – awake, lie in bed, think.
7:35-7:45 – haul self out of bed, put in contacts, get dressed, brush hair
7:45-8:00 – kids, oddly, still asleep. Decide to make pancakes to nip any breakfast battles in the bud. Make batter, fry up pancakes, make my coffee.
8:00 – roust boys. They really slept in today!
8:00-8:05 – get them situated at kitchen table with syrup and pancakes (in that order)
8:05- go get baby
8:05- 8:25 – feed baby while eating pancakes with one hand. Talk about school with boys, and they start drawing pictures after they finish eating.
8:25 – 8:40 – everyone upstairs to get dressed. Change baby’s diaper first, then 2-year-old’s. Get 2-year-old dressed, 4-year-old insists I need to help him, which isn’t true but isn’t going to be argued when we need to be in car in 5 minutes. Brush teeth.
8:40-8:45 – downstairs to get shoes and coats on. One tense moment when 2-year-old takes his shoes off after I get them on. But then he puts them back on by himself, so all good.
8:45- 8:48 – everyone into car seats. Strap ’em all in, count to make sure I have three kids in the backseat before taking off.
8:48-9:05 – pre-school run. We sing “Wheels on the bus” and “Twinkle twinkle little star.”
9:05-9:10 – home, pick up newspaper from driveway, get baby out of car, go in, glance at headlines, pour second cup of coffee and start work (sort of, as still have baby).
What do your weekday mornings look like?
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Photo courtesy flickr user SFB579
Hi, Laura! You mention in “168 Hours” that most people’s “non-typical days/weeks” are actually probably closer to the typical than they realize, but mine really has been atypical and will continue to be so until another month or so. We’re fostering a whole raft of dogs (mama dog, 2 of her 2-month-old pups, all rescued from the Dallas municipal shelter + a stray Sheltie), and until they’re all adopted — after which we have decided that, for sanity’s sake, we cannot foster again until my startup business stabilizes — our mornings look quite different from what they ordinarily would be without them.
5:45 – get up
5:45-6:25 – B takes Mama Dog to backyard for potty break while I get all the dogs’ breakfasts ready, clean up puppy pen. B takes remaining 3 adult dogs to potty break. (They have to be separated because the other 3 adult dogs don’t get along with Mama Dog.) Feed puppies and Mama Dog.
6:15-6:40 – B and I eat breakfast, then feed remaining 3 adult dogs.
6:40-7:00 – B gets ready for work while I clean up kitchen and take 4 adult dogs for another potty break in 2 shifts.
7:00 – B leaves for work with Mama Dog (he drops her off at daycare on the way to work).
7:00-8:30- I walk our two own dogs for an hour, then come back and walk Sheltie for half an hour. Must be done in 2 shifts because I can’t manage 3 individual, adult dogs at once on a walk.
8:30-9:00 – Take 3 adult dogs + 2 puppies out to backyard for half-hour playtime.
9:00 – Park myself at desk in home office and WORK!!
It’s a crazy schedule that doesn’t allow us much free time, but fortunately there has been a lot of interest in the 2 adult foster dogs we have, so hopefully they will be adopted soon and life can slowly return to normal. And of course, your book helps tremendously in keeping me centered and focused on what my priorities are.
Salut,
Marjorie
@Marjorie- wow, that is a lot of dogwalking in the morning! But as you say, we do what is a priority. If saving those dogs is your priority, then you can cheerfully go about those backyard loops!
Laura – I’ve just recently purchased your book. I kept reading so many good things about it, I couldn’t help myself…I only just finished Chapter 1. Should I wait to complete my time log before moving on to the other chapters. Or can I do both at the same time, in which case my time log will read “Read 168 hours” when I’m on the train to and from work 🙂
Also, I’m so curious to see other people’s time logs, and especially yours. Do you have any of them accessible that others have publicized? Do you still accept people sending their logs to you for comment?
Thanks,
Rinna
@Rinna – glad you are liking the book! I’d start recording your time while reading the book. There’s no perfect week so you may as well start now, and hopefully the book will give you food for thought as you’re recording your time. Hopefully the book will make your commute more pleasant!
I have a few of my time logs posted on this site, if you search for “168 Hours Challenge.” I’m migrating over to a new site this week but the old posts should still be accessible. And if you want to send me your log I’m happy to look at it.
6:10 – 6:20 – wake up, get dressed in workout clothes, take medicine, start coffeepot, check calendar for any school-related activities, permission slips, etc.
6:20 – 6:35 – do high intensity interval workout. I’ve been using 20-Second Fitness so that even on days when I don’t make it to the gym, I’m doing *something.*
6:35 – 7:00 – shower, get dressed for work. Wake up kids.
7:00 – 8:00 – get kids dressed and downstairs for breakfast. Make and eat breakfast. Make lunches. Chase down any homework, library books, etc. that didn’t make it into the backpacks last night. Get kids out the door.
8:00 – 8:30 – drive kids to school.
8:30- 8:50 – drive to work.
Some days it feels like a starting gun rather than an alarm clock.
@JMB – yes, mornings can be hectic with getting kids in the car and out the door. I’m impressed that you’re doing the workout first though. That’s really important for getting the day going and, yep, means even if the day goes horribly at least you’ve done that!