A day in the life

Inspired by Colin Devroe’s post, here’s an average day. Any given Wednesday in fact.

• 5:45 - My phone alarm wakes me. I believe this to be true, though I have no recollection of the event.
• 6:00 - One of our children starts to scream, usually our ten-month-old Royal. Graham, our toddler, wakes and walks over to our bed to snuggle with Mama. This replaces my alarm clock as an effective, and memorable wake-up call.
• 6:30 - Stumble to the kitchen to start hot water for the French Press and pull a yogurt out of the ‘fridge for Graham. If I’ve showered in the last two days, I’ll curl up with a blanket on the couch, nurse my aching stomach and sit in a pain daze. If I haven’t, I might take a shower.
• 7:00 - Log into Slack and prove I’m alive and awake. I spend the next hour reviewing yesterday’s work, any TODOs I’ve left myself, and emails I’ve received. When I remember, I hop over to the kitchen to finish coffee-making. The volume in our apartment rises from the babble of a playing toddler to the chaos of a mother getting our boys ready to take Graham to Montessori school.
• 8:00 - Step in to finish dressing our kids and take Graham to drive the car, parked on the street, to our back-alley-facing door. I help strap at least one child into their car seat and stumble back to my office chair.
• 8:30 - Report yesterday’s progress and today’s plan at the morning standup meeting. I never stand.
• 9:00 - Report the same progress to another audience. This audience adds another task to my project. Still no standing. Amie returns with Royal.
• 9:30 - After I’ve documented the new work, I launch into the day’s coding task. Even if Royal is noisy, I’m in flow and don’t see or hear anything but my work until lunchtime.
• 12:30 - Break for lunch. I’ll warm up left-overs for Amie and I, or either one of us will make a quick meal like hot dogs or pasta. I may chat with Amie, take a prayer walk, or return to work with what’s left of the lunch hour.
• 1:30 - Jump back into work. While I devote the morning work block for maximum production and innovation, the afternoon is devoted to refinement and organization. I’ll handle administrative tasks, review or submit pull requests, and send emails.
• 4:00 - Run out the door with Amie and Royal to pick up Graham from school, often with no transition from work. Amie and I catch up on the day’s events on the way. Graham’s pickup would be faster than an hour, but Graham has to explore before he’ll get into the car.
• 5:00 - Walk back into our condo and immediately begin dinner. Amie feeds Royal and Graham first while I finish ours. I eat when dinner’s ready, sometimes without leaving the kitchen. Amie eats a little now and the rest after the kid’s bedtime.
• 6:30 - Start Royal’s bedtime routine. I’ll put him in pajamas and either Amie or I will put him to bed.
• 7:00 - Finish dinner, converse with Amie and play with Graham. It’s the grey zone between bedtimes where I listen for Royal’s wakeup screams and give Graham and Amie partial attention.
• 8:00 - Start Graham’s bedtime routine. Graham still takes naps at school, so he gets a late bedtime. When it’s not a schoolday, the bedtime routine starts at 6:00. I’ll put him in pajamas and read books with him. There’s an abundance of activity and laughter right before bed.
• 8:30 - Graham makes one final show at his bedroom door, and I take him to bed for a second tuck-in. Then it’s cleanup time.
• 9:00 - With the condo mostly organized, it’s finally our “free” time. If there’s not a pressing task to complete, Amie and I will continue a conversation we started hours earlier, watch a streaming show, and/or read a book (right now it’s “The Arm of the Starfish” by Madeleine L’Engle).
• 11:00 - Asleep.