Challenge 15: Timeline of My Day

Some of these challenges are a bit short and slightly silly feeling to me. But they are all good exercises and I'm embracing the challenge. Although it feels self-indulgent, here is the timeline of my day.

Monday through Friday my alarm rings at 4:45AM for a 5 or 5:15AM workout. Then I get back home by 6:20AM to pack my lunch, grab a bowl of cereal and make my coffee. This is followed by the shower, laying out clothes for the kiddo, and getting ready for work.

I have to be in the car by about 7:15AM to get to work by 8. Usually I help the little one get dressed and she says goodbye to me and blows me kisses from the front stoop. Between 7:50AM and 8AM I get into my office. From 8AM to 9:30AM I have to edit and compile reports and charts for my job. At 9:20AM the same customer calls me to read him a copy of the newsletter I just published that morning.

From then on I count down to my 12:00PM hour-long lunch and usually have a 10AM snack. On my lunch I walk around or make phone calls to catch up with people because by the end of the day I just zone out. 

My afternoon often drags from 1PM to 5PM with end of the day numbers submitted just after 4PM. I take phone calls and do social media updates for work. I catch up on news and a few things here and there. I walk out of the door at 5PM, and unless there is crazy traffic, I can usually make it back to my neighborhood by about 5:45PM. 

Three days a week I hit the gym in the evenings too, for Spin class or a run. Then I get home to tidy up and get the kiddo ready for bed time. We read between 2 and 4 books and have about 10 minutes of end of day recap and cuddles before I head out to make myself dinner and do whatever chores are required to make the rest of the week easier. So I eat around 8PM and usually am in bed between 9:30PM and 10PM to get some sleep and do it all over. 

Weekends I try to "sleep in" between 7 and 8AM. Sometimes I hit a 9:30AM Saturday morning spin class and Sundays usually involve Church. I thrive on routine and when things get thrown off it is definitely not an easy transition for me. So much of my anxiety contributes to that. Although I think most people can function better when they have a normal schedule. 

With my daughter's schedule we have yet to throw in any sports or crazy after school activities outside of basic after care. She thrives with other people and routines of her own but she comes home tired and so do I. 

My husband works nights so we rarely cross paths and he is the guy who gets the little one to where she needs to be in the mornings. I'm the bed time guru. Each day follows roughly the same timeline with some fun and alterations here and there. It's tough to motivate from time to time but once you just get up and do it, it's not so bad. 

Now feel free to judge, eye roll or think that I am crazy with this schedule but this is years of working and figuring out how to keep everyone sane. This schedule is the closest we have all been to that sanity!