Recently Trent at The Simple Dollar posted his schedule. I think it’s quite interesting to see what goes on behind the curtains because even when everybody mostly live in the same types of houses, drive the same kinds of cars, buy the same stuff and have jobs, we are all quite different when it comes to the details. So here’s a typical weekday schedule for me. A weekend would look quite similar except there is no job and more studying and “misc.”.
7:07 I wake up and notice that it’s past 6:45 on the clock (if it’s not I doze off again). It might be 7:13 or 7:04, but 7:07 has been fairly consistent lately. I have not woken up to an alarm clock on a daily basis for many many years. I get out of bed, shower, and get dressed. This takes 17 minutes from the moment I open my eyes, always.
7:24 I find my laptop and check if any comments need moderation, if someone left a track back link, and other blog stats. I also check whether the stock market is up or down for the day. In particular I check if any of my limit orders have triggered. I don’t eat breakfast. I never eat breakfast.
7:55 I get my bicycle out of the garage taking it out of the front door through the living room. I ride the first mile at 15mph and slowly build up to 18-19mph watching the traffic jam on the interstate as I go on a parallel side road. Going in I’m usually facing headwind. That sucks. Maybe I should get aerobars?
8:22 I arrive at work. I’m usually the first or second one in. I spend most of the day sitting on my ass and staring at computer screens. Occasionally I get a bright idea, fire up an editor, make some changes, and rerun a program. Then I wait some more. Research is mostly long periods of waiting interrupted by brief periods of frenetic activity and excitement.
9:37 I play hockey 1-2 times a week with people at work. We have a mailing list and during the morning we’ll try to figure out if we have enough people to play by shooting mails back and forth saying things like “in iff numbers>3+3 && rink dry ..” and the first “in” usually arrives at this time.
11:50 Assuming that the game is on I get a ride over to the rink. I’m the only car-less person and we’re all going to the same place, so there are always someone who can give me a ride. We usually talk about hockey. Apparently I’m the only player who only plays and never watches. I can’t tell you anything about the NHL. When it comes to sports, the only things I try to watch are the games of one particular college football team and pro-dopingcycling. If it is not a game day or it rains, I work through. I never eat lunch (either) so my blood sugar levels are nice and constant all day.
13:30 I get back from the rink. I check emails and respond to a collaborator if they need some data or a paragraph back. I always try to kick the ball out of my court ASAP. Hurry up and wait is the operating motto.
16:03 I get my bike out of my office (I park my “precious” in my office) and ride home. Tailwind means 23mph. If I’m lucky I get to overtake some recreational cyclist in a multicolored jersey. If I am unlucky some jerk in an SUV will try to right hook me or pull out in front of me because she didn’t see me. SUVs should have a “must be this tall to drive” sign printed on their front doors.
16:28 I arrive at home. If our vicious guard dog is awake he tries to get my attention until I scratch his ears. Then he runs back to DW. He’s a mommy’s boy. I moderate comments and try to respond to a few of them. I also check a couple of other pf blogs. DW heads out to the dog park with the puppy.
17:00 I start working on my freelance editing job cleaning up papers for publication. This is paid on an hourly basis so I have my stop watch going.
17:45 DW comes back. The puppy runs frantically around demonstrating much excitement but no sense of dignity or coordination whatsoever. DW starts cooking. We have started taking turns on the cooking. I do one week, DW does the next. During my weeks I usually cook everything on Sundays and then reheat.
19:00 I finish the freelancing. Dinner is ready. Since I don’t eat lunch nor breakfast I eat a lot during dinner. Usually two fully topped plates. We eat in front of the TV typically watching the Colbert report or other educational programming.
19:43 I finish eating and I grab the laptop trying to pen a few posts. Some posts take half an hour or less. Others take more than an hour. I write an average of two posts a day but only every other day. Usually writing is easier if I have something to disagree with 🙂
21:02 I grab the book for my finance studies. Currently I’m reading fixed income. This is something I should be spending more time on. I try to catch up during weekends. Sometimes I head into another room to read but mostly I read in front of the TV. This is not very productive.
22:47 I stop reading. Grab a hockey stick and practice stick handling in front of the TV with a tennis ball. I may also grab a clubbell or a kettlebell and hammer out some reps.
23:07 I start bugging DW when she’ll be done watching her current alphabet show (NCIS, CSI, … ). Usually this takes 10 minutes. She has to finish a show once she’s started. Then I say “bed bed” which is the keyword for the puppy to get out in the yard and do his thing.
23:24 I head to bed. DW follows after putting the puppy to be. This is a strictly coordinated routine.
I’m pressed for time. This is why time is more valuable than money to me. I still need to do my taxes. I need to set my blog up as a sole proprietorship so I can derive some advertising income. I also need to spend more time reading 10-Qs and 10-Ks (a hobby) and running stock screens to add to my buy list. Going with DW to the dog park would be nice but that will lose an hour. I probably spend 10 hours a week exercising (I consider the commute part of my exercise – it is reasonably fast) but I would like to get back into the power game.
