A while ago, a coach asked me to brainstorm my perfect day: What would my days look like if I had complete control over my time?
I don't think I'd be sitting on a beach all day long, sipping cocktails and watching... birds. I don't even like the sun that much, nor cocktails. Or birds, for that matter. I would probably get bored immediately.
So, this blog post is rather what a perfect workday would look like. Then again, if I manage to have such a day, I believe every day could be a workday as the whole work/life balance is deeply ingrained in it. I also think that I never really want to retire, either.
So, now follows my perfect day in an ideal world:
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9 AM: Wake Up — I am not a morning person, and to me, 9 AM is very, very early. In this perfect world, I would never wake up before 9 AM anymore. Except to maybe catch a plane. Also, a personal rule of mine is "Always snooze once, never twice." It weakens the fight-and-flight response of an alarm clock without me risking oversleeping.
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9.30 AM: Breakfast — After showering and getting dressed, I'll fix breakfast. My go-to breakfast is oats with berries and an omelette with extra egg whites. I don't see myself changing this for a while.
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10 AM: Write — For the next 2ish hours, I will work on whatever writing I am currently working on. I try to work for two hours straight with your occasional break. My brain needs a lot of time to get into a concentrated writing mood, so the first 30 minutes will probably be lost on mind wandering.
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12 PM: Coffee Break and more writing — I don't drink coffee the first 90 minutes after waking up. We have Andrew Huberman to thank for that. But I love my coffee ritual. Every day, I make a pour-over coffee first, and later, after lunch, an espresso. (Or two.) With my coffee prepared, I'll continue to write some more.
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1 PM: Eat (and nap) — I love to cook and fix myself some lunch. However, I try to socialize every few days and have lunch with my fiancée, a friend, or an acquaintance. If I am at home, I'll slip in a 30-minute nap.
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2 PM: Emails and administrative things — Around 2 PM, I have my trough and low energy levels. I mostly do administrative tasks like replying to emails, checking the stats of overkill, doing some research, etc. All while having my espresso for the day. If I had lunch outside, I'd work in a coffee shop.
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2.30 PM: Non-writing work — I now either work with clients, whoever these clients are. Or I'm working on other creative endeavours that are not writing. For example, shoot a video for YouTube. I do this for another three hours or so.
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5.30 PM: Socialize — I spend quality time and eat with my fiancée until she goes (early) to bed. Semi-regularly, I see some friends for dinner before returning home around 11 PM or midnight. These days would end with me reading before going to sleep. Otherwise:
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10 PM: Gym — I go to the gym five times per week. For two of these, I go to my trainer. Depending on my program, I train between 1 to 2 hours per session. Before going to bed (and showering), I'd eat something high in protein.
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12 AM: Reading before bed — I'd finish my days reading something lightweight, maybe a novel or a biography. Knowing me, I would probably try to sneak in an hour but fall asleep after 30 minutes or so. My current goal is to sleep at least 8 hours every night.
While this is a purely hypothetical day, it has a lot of similarities with what my days currently look like. Only right now, I work for someone else and try to sneak in some personal work wherever I can.
As for the rest? I'm surprised, but it's basically how I live my life right now. And it looks like I needed this exercise to realise that.
What is your perfect day? I am a sucker for things like that. So, if you have a blog, feel free to steal this idea and send me the URL. I will link to it.