A day in my life – on a Friday

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I love reading people’s day in the life posts & vlogs.  I find learning about other people’s daily routines and schedules interesting.  So much so, that I’ve decided to share a typical day in the life of my own.  Albeit a Friday! 

Friday’s are a usually a lighter day of meetings which means I will try to add some tasks to get ahead (or catch up), admin and personal activities (related to my goals or life in general).

I also feel that #DITL posts need context.  I have a corporate career, happily married mom to 2 kids with busy extra curricular schedules.  But I’m also creative (running this blog, my Etsy store and pursing creative hobbies to ensure I build skills), habit stacker who is very intentional about how I spend my free time and what content I consume.

That said, there are a lot of things in my day that are non-negotiables, almost to the point that I don’t even think about doing them anymore – they just get done.  (When people ask how I make the the time or prioritize my non-negotiables, I don’t know what to say other then “it’s like when I get up I brush my teeth…I do these things because I do them).

Anywho on to my Fri-yay!

632am –  Today I was working from home but I still I meditate right after awaking.  I love that early morning meditation.  I feel like it works wonders for me.  Following that,  I put on my apple watch, drink a sip of water and journal.  I get my AM hygiene routine out of the away before the rest of the house wakes up.

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7:05am – Kids alarm goes off and I’ll hop on over to see how they are doing.  There is usually some fight that needs to be broken up (slammed door, hogging the sink etc) but after that is diffused I’ll head downstairs to start breakfast and pack lunches (the hubby and I will rotate that job daily so if I’m not downstairs, I’m helping the girls get ready).

750am – Kids lunches are packed, breakfast is mostly eaten and we are out the door on the way to the bus stop!

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8:10am – As soon as we get back from school bus drop off, I start my workout.  I’ll warm up for a run with my air buds playing affirmations.  This is a new routine and I find it works really well.  As for my run, I have a daily rotation: 20 min, 3km or 4km. During that time I’ll watch a TedTalk or a podcast on youtube.  Because it was Friday – I decided to treat myself to a little Netflix and a long run.

8:45am – I like to do a little resistance as well, so thats when I’ll turn on a motivational podcast (well slightly aggressive motivational speeches.  (Think: Zig Ziglar, Coach Pain, Eric Thomas etc).  I rotate between legs, full body and multiple arm days per week.  After the long run, I wanted to cool down and stretch today.

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9:00am to 11:45am – After a quick breakfast, I jump straight into meetings. But because I documented my day on a Friday – my meetings are light.   So I try and keep my time blocked for sessions with my mentees, networking & skill building.  On this day in particular I had a training session and then I did a brain dump of my work tasks before continuing a self study course.

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1:30pm – Before grabbing a bite, I did a Move with Nicole 15 min Pilates class.  Her classes are soo good!

3:15pm – Today I picked up my daughters early as we were going to my in-laws house.  And it was straight to Karate for them.

6:00pm – Last Friday we celebrated Lorhi.  Lorhi is the celebration to mark the passing of Winter Solstice.  I love celebrating anything that follows the lunar phases.  Time spend with family, playing games, building a fire, throwing peanuts into said fire, eating and drinking great food!

And that’s it!  How do your Friday’s look?  Is it the same every Friday or varied?  These kind of days offer me the most work life integration – which is what I strive for everyday!

How to make better to do lists!

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To do lists are the micro levels of my big dreams.  Big dreams are astronomical, may take months or years to achieve them, require persistence and consistency.  Consistency is where our daily to do lists come in.

I do want to preface this post by saying the following:

  • we shouldn’t be slaves to our to do lists
  • to do lists don’t own us
  • to do lists are meant to serve us 

So if your daily to do list, post it or weekly planner spread is making you feel bad about yourself – throw it out, take a beat and start over again when you are ready!

We shouldn’t feel productivity debt (feeling like you always need to be doing something and rest is not deserved unless your to do list is completed) from not completing everything on our to do list & there is nothing you NEED to do to earn your existence.

But when you are ready to schedule the day you want to make it amazing – read on!

Side note: I’m writing this as I was feeling overwhelm trying to use notion.  Notion is meant to be a tool to keep your life organized but there was too much scope creep in their product – for me at least.  The idea that it might also need to look aesthetic, link to a Spotify playlist and my Pinterest mood board was a little too much.  So I realized I need to step back and figured others might need to too.

So how do we make our to do lists work for us?

  1. Figure out your big dreams, goals, priorities and projects.   But also think about the habits you want to build and routines you want to have.
  2. Pick a medium that works for you.  Could be paper or digital, simple or complex.  You’ll also want to choose a template: Is it just 1 sticky note for the day, or multiple colour coded ones, is it a weekly spread planner or an hour-by-hour list of tasks.  This can obviously change but it’s a great idea to try something out.
  3. Fill your list with your daily living + tasks that will help you got to your big goals.  Example are meetings, but also your workouts (goal: to focus on fitness).  It could be having lunch with someone and blocking 2 hours in the morning for writing (goal: to write a book).  
  4. Pick something to fail at.  Not everything has to be checked off and not everything has to be done well.  So knowing what can be moved to another day vs a non-negotiable will help you stay intentional and not feel like you aren’t moving forward.

Remember – it’s all about getting to outcomes (not getting things done).  Your to do list should be on your side helping you build intentional habits and keep you 1 step closer to your goals!

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Be productive when you are not motivated

We all have those days (heck maybe weeks) where productivity wains and we feel less than stellar about the work we aren’t getting done.  I have a few thoughts on that, one being that productivity ebbs & flows – it’s all part of the process.  Secondly, I ALWAYS say no to hustle culture.  I mean, like the rest of us …I want it all (progressive career, great marriage, be a loving mother, hang with my friends, drink 3L of water and workout daily) – but I remember that REST will help me accomplish all the things.

  1. Take a break from your workplace 
    Essentially you want to remove yourself from you current situation. Whether that means taking a walk, going to a coffee shop or sitting on your deck.  Changing your environment (and in short order) will provide a new perspective as well as a break so you can come back with a fresh mind.
  2. Put your phone in another room
    Staying off your socials, not constantly checking chat/emails or other apps  will help to eliminate distractions (which when providing a false/high dopamine fix will further prevent one from getting work done).  I’m yet to master this …let alone try it… But we all know mindless doom scrolling and social media comparisons, can put you in a funk. So an easy way to remove distractions is to time block your phone breaks.  
  3. Complete the smallest – easiest task: 
    What is important here is create the impression of progress on our minds.  One small task could be finishing a bottle of water or sending an email you are dreading.  Once you complete that task, and mark it off your list – it will create an automatic momentum and willingness to keep going!
  4. Use the momentum and a focused playlist to keep going:
    Once you’ve completed one task, use the that feeling to keep you going on to something else.  Sometimes it helps to play your favourite music or a brown noise playlist. Keep on single tasking till you get three of your top priorities completed.

Outfit details:
Dress: Old | Shoes: Aldo | Purse: Chanel | Sunnies: Amazon

My Ideal Day

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I truly feel alignment is the spice of life.  Aligning to my goals, hobbies, dreams, passions, career and community – as much as I can EVERYDAY.   Of course there are days where what I want do is “align” to comfort (aka binge watch a series on Netflix!!)  But by choosing alignment, I make a conscious decisions when it comes to to re-aligning or readjusting my day to handle priorities or new needs.

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I recently did the daily habit score cards as outlined in Atomic Habits.  What you need to do is write down every thing you do most days.  Things like brush your teeth, drop your kids at school, read on the train, scroll IG while making a coffee, take a walk over lunch,  meditate before bed are some of the habits that I would need to record.  Even the habits you don’t think are important like snooze the alarm or set the alarm for the next day are recorded in this list of habits.  Then I used a +, – or = to denote positive/beneficial habits, negative habits and neutral habits.

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What this exercise did was help me visually see and recognize habits that weren’t helping me get to where I see myself in the future or on path to attain certain goals.  It’s a helpful way to honestly look at and become more aware of your behaviour.

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What it got me thinking about was, what my ideal day would consist of  (ie: turn my habits into goals).  It made me aware of what activities make me feel energized, bring me joy and what things I want to do to improve my everyday.  What I saw was those activities were grouped into the following categories:

  • Growth (Professional, Personal and Spiritual)
  • Exercise/Eating healthy foods
  • Quality Family Time
  • Being prepared
  • Doing Work that I enjoy and is a priority for me
  • Having fun
  • Getting Enough Rest

So here is a snapshot of what I see as my ideal day:

Wake up (without an alarm!), meditate and journal (optimal journalling practice for me would be either a brain dump/artists way writing, combined with gratitude, goal setting and a to do list).   Drink a bottle of water and then get dressed in my workout clothes and spend 15 minutes reading before the rest of the house wakes up.   If it’s a Wednesday or a Weekend, I’d probably wear a facemark. When the kids wake up, I’d help them get ready for the day and we all head downstairs. The kids would have breakfast and after dropping them off at school I’d do my outdoor workout (tempo run through a forest, HIIT or heavy weight training).  Getting back home, I’d drink water and have a healthy breakfast that I prepped the night before.  I’d make tea and refill my water bottle and get to work where I contribute to and add value to peoples life with both a tech and human centric approach.  I would schedule meetings for the afternoons because my most productive time is between 9am-2:30pm, I’d want to use that time to work, write, photograph, create, ideate, research, work on projects, strategize or consult.  I would break for lunch (to eat something I prepped the night before with lots of veggies/fibre, fish or eggs and a complex carb with more water) and definitely take a leisurely stroll to energize and also digest the meal.  I’d spend the remainder of my afternoon drinking more water and either in meetings, training or creating.  Before picking up the kids, I would love to have a tea break or coffee chat with a colleague or business partner.  After, picking the kids up from school, we’d have an afternoon snack and do homework or get to after school extra curricular activities. Dinner would be prepped or at least planned and we’d eat as a family. Before bed we’d hang out (go for a walk, bike ride or play a game or watch the WNBA game).  After the kids are in bed, I’d prep for the next day before taking some me time to either study, stretch/foam roll, shower, netflix or blog. I’d end the date with a peppermint tea with a few pieces of dark chocolate or home-made cookies. Definitely would want to be in bed by 10:30 after brushing/flossing my teeth and taking time to spiritually self reflect.

Wow just writing that out was so relaxing.  And of course things may come up where I’d have to adjust my attention to handle a priority but the hope is keeping my day as closely aligned to my main goal categories.  Every small step would create a ripple effect towards my goals.