My Ideal Day, Everyday
You know that really great feeling at the end of a day when things could not have gone more perfect?
Maybe it was the weather or a reandom interaction, but often times I feel like the various parts of my day just clicked together in the right way.
It occurred to me last Fall that maybe I could have more perfect days if I just knew what to schedule. So I did. Just like Benjamin Franklin, I mapped out my ideal day.
In doing so, I realized that my day wasn’t ideal unless I started it off right by having an hour or so of quiet time to myself. Having two kids is incredibly demanding, but still the best job in the world. By getting some alone time before the chaos ensues really helps anchor me for whatever comes later.
I also found that if I can get one key work thing done before the family wakes up, I don’t feel so pressured during the later work sessions. Things always seem crop up at the start of the day, so if I can eat the frog during my first work session then the others go a lot smoother.
The second most important time I found was bedtime. If I can have an early bedtime, that’ll feed into the next morning and make it easier to get started off on the right foot.
Reading books with my kids before bed is wonderful and a real treat, while also bringing the frenetic energy of the day down to restful levels.
If I obey my body and turn in after that, which is often between 9 and 10 PM, a wake up time of 4 or 5 AM next day is usually a breeze.
Just out of curiosity, I asked my partner to schedule hers and then we compared them. Turns out, her perfect day starts by sleeping in to around 8/8:30 AM which dovetails perfectly with mine.
We commonly don’t hit all of our key points during the day, but we aim to achieve our first one at the very least. As long as we can both start the day off right, we’ve found we have a pretty good shot at having a pretty great day; if we can hit more needs, it all just gets more ideal.
What’s your ideal day look like? Share them here or on twitter and cc me: @scrabtree
Good luck on creating, striving for and achieving your ideal day!