How does my daily routine compare to yours?

[ghostofadog]

Would love to know what your day looks like and what you think of mine!

Used to be quite efficient with my time when DC were small but youngest is now 16, oldest away at college and I should have loads of time but mostly seem to do routine stuff and feel like I'm not getting anywhere. Don't seem to get round to big jobs or things that give much life satisfaction! Spend a lot of time doing not much and need to get out of a rut. Here's a typical weekday:

Wake up 6.40, cup of tea in bed, write in diary and look at tasks for day
7.10 - yoga
7.30 - shower, breakfast, read paper
8.15 - walk dog
9.15 - tidy up kitchen, put washing on
9.30 - start work (work part time, mostly from home, one day a week in office)
10.30 - coffee
10.45 - work
1.30 - lunch, read paper or mumsnet
2.00 - work
4.00 - walk dog
5.00 - cup of tea, read, tidy up, jobs round house/garden or go to shops if needed, do some yoga if other stuff all done.
6.00 - feed dog, decide what to have for tea, cook tea
6.45 - eat meal and spend time with DH & DD
7.45 - sort and fold washing, tidying, deal with home emails/admin, phone or message friends/family.
9.30 - Watch TV
10.45 - take dog out, lock up.
11.00 - read
11.30 - sleep

How does this compare to your day? Does it look really inefficient to you? How do you get things done that you really want to do in life? How do you find the energy?

I don’t have DC

7.15am - get up, cup of tea, breakfast, make lunch, generally get ready for work
8.20am - leave house
8.40am - get to work and make a coffee
9am - start work
10am - break
10.15 - 12 - work
12-12.30 - lunch
12.30- 3 - work
3-3.15- break
3.15 - 5 - work
5.15 - home, feed cat, mess about on phone, open post
6 - exercise or batch cook, make tea
7 - shower, game, TV, cleaning, message friends, read etc
11 - contemplate bed. Get distracted by social media/MN
midnight/1am ish - sleep

No kids
5.45 alarm - snooze once
6.00 - make myself a flat white - wake up and listen to radio. Unload dishwasher etc.
06.15 LED mask with cooling eye patches
06.30 pull on gym gear. Brush teeth.
06.45 walk to gym
07.00 gym class - sometimes quick sauna and dip if I have time
08.00 shower and dry hair - quick make up etc
08.20 walk to the office music in AirPods
08.45 arrive. Make second coffee. work.
11.00ish breakfast break, usually overnight oats or 2 boiled eggs and mint tea
2.00 lunch break
5.30ish walk home usually listen to a podcast
6.00 housework or laundry then doomscrolling for a bit
7.00 make and eat dinner - usually something home made
8.00 an hour of tv, sometimes paint nails
9.00 clean down kitchen, pack lunch and gym gear ready for next day
9.15 skincare, brush and floss teeth. Cool shower if it’s super hot.
9.30 read in bed
10.00 sleep

I love reading about other people’s routines!
We moved last month so my routine doesn’t look how I’d like it to yet, but getting there. no DC and DP works out of house all day. I WFH.

Mon - Thurs: 7am - alarm goes off, snooze
8:15ish - actually wake up, quick scroll, get dressed and ready for day, cup of tea
9am - start work
10:30am ish - coffee and eat breakfast whilst working
12 - 1: lunch, unpack, pop out to shop/post office/bins, watch an episode of something, or if very tired have a quick sleep (we had some very late nights with the move)
1-3: work
3ish: snack
5pm: finish work
I don’t understand where the hours between 5-8 go but they look different every day - could be gym, hobby out of the house, cooking, life admin, cleaning a bit, seeing friends, reading. I’m quite addicted to my phone at the moment and scrolling eats away at my time. I’d like to get back to the gym more consistently and get back to my hobbies
8ish: eat dinner
8:30-10ish: watch TV together and chat
10ish: DP goes up to bed, I continue warning TV, resist sleep, eventually go and shower and sleep between 11-12

Fridays I don’t work and my days look completely different each week.

Saturdays I work in a different job.
6:30am - up
7:30 - on train
8am - arrive in work city, get coffee and breakfast and walk to work
9am - 2pm - work with half an hour break in between sessions
2pm - work ends, could end up meeting a friend, mooching around shops, or just going straight home and having a bit of a flop. If we’re going away overnight we’ll leave straight after I finish. I always try not to work on Sundays which is when I get most of my cleaning and tidying done.

Mine.
7.30 alarm goes off snooze
7.40 get up in a rush, get three kids up and breakfasted, get dressed
8.30 nursery and school drop off and drive to work
9-3 work (20 mins lunch around 12)
3.10 nursery then school pick up
4 home and entertain kids
5 make and eat tea
6.30 usually kids after school activities like Brownies, etc etc
8 get youngest off to bed
9 get middle and eldest child to bed
9.30 sit on phone or watch tv
11.30 bed and scrolling
12.15 sleep

Childfree and work part time.

In my days off I get up between 9 and 10.

Sometimes put the dishwasher on or robot vacuum cleaner wherever needs it.

Scroll on phone, play games while listening to audiobooks

Go to a shop or meet a friend, go to the beach.

Cook for enjoyment

Watch a film

Phone scroll

Bed late

05:30 - wake up, do puzzles on phone, get dressed, tea/toast/feed cats
06:00 - Work (from home - part-time)
07:30 - school run
09:00 - Work
11:30 - Take a break - get some fresh air/lunch
12:00 - Work
13:00 - School run
14:45 - Work
16:00 - School run
17:30 - Make and eat dinner
18:30 - tidy kitchen, watch some TV, do bills, finish up work, gardening/DIY in Summer, knitting or something indoor in Winter
20:00 - wrap up downstairs - put stuff away/lock up, have a shower/bath do upstairs bits and pieces winding down
21:00 - bedtime

So I have about 2 hours a day for 'free use' which is when I do things like replace my bathroom tap (tagged for today) or the week before last I spent every evening weeding the raised beds ready for the rain.

Some days it changes - eg. if eldest gets out of school early, or one day a week I do Pilates, or if it's been a long day I might finish work early and go for a walk before 1st pickup, or after drop-off I might go and do the shopping.

I am pretty strict about only working after 5pm if it's urgent though, as I nearly burned myself out last year.

Your life sounds lovely - un-rushed, everything with its time. What are you dissatisfied with?

05.50 alarm, get up change my little boy's milk in his feed pump, prepare and give his 6am meds. Boil kettle for his water flushes. Turn him to prevent pressure areas
07.00 shower. Give his 7am meds
07.15 start getting him dressed. Lycra bodysuit on, splints on. Once dressed hoist into his chair
08.00 Feed finishes, 8am meds then flush his line off 9or swap for next feed if not a school day.
08.10 Leave for school.
09.00 - 11.30 meetings/appointments/ catch up on paperwork. If he's home swap feed again at 10am.
12.00 meds if he's at home.
13.00 feed finishes for the day if at home, flush off
14.00 nebulizer and chest physio
14.30 meds
16.00 meds
17.00 neb and chest physio
17.30 night time feed starts
18.00 meds/bath
18.30 bed set up sleep system and overnight monitoring
19.00 meds
22.30 turn him
00.00 midnight meds, change feed for fresh milk, turn him, change sats probe to other foot.

Gosh. I don't have a daily routine at all. Every day/week looks a bit different. I work full-time, but the hours and location vary to some extent. I do different activities on different evenings/weeks. I can't relate to these at all!!

How does this compare to your day? Does it look really inefficient to you? How do you get things done that you really want to do in life? How do you find the energy?

When you say inefficient, what do you mean exactly? And what is it you don't have time to do but want to do?
Days don't have to be stuffed to hilt with no breathing space just for the sake of it😉 nothing inefficient about some relax.

I don't have children.

6.40am - wake up and immediately go downstairs and make tea
7.20am - shower, dressed
8am - feed dogs, feed me
8.20am - leave the house
9am - arrive at work ..... do a little work
2pm - drive home
3pm - take dogs for a good romp in the local secure dog park
5pm - feed dogs
6pm - feed me
6.30pm until 8pm - do a little tidying, cleaning etc ...
8pm until 11pm - chat with my partner on video call or just WhatsApp and watch a film (we don't live together)
11.15pm - take the woofs out for their evening wee and lock up
11.30pm - bed.

My typical day (on a day in on site vs wfh)looks like
Wake up 6.30 get dressed, make up etc wake the dc.
7.10 get breakfast/sort lunches
7.30/8:00 leave the house (this depends on whether I’m dropping the dc to school. (This is split with dh)
8.00/08:30 arrive at work
4:30pm leave work and collect ds.
5.00- chat to dc, prep dinner and cook, ds does homework while I do that
6.00 - eat dinner.
6.30- this can vary from kids clubs to yoga to tv etc
8:30 - have a bath
09.00 - start getting ds sorted for bed (dd is 13 so just needs a reminder
09:30 -bed for us all.

I didn’t include DH in this because he’s there for a lot of it too but other jobs around me

Two young dc
6.30 me up cup of tea wash etc
7 kids up downstairs drink come round get dressed
7.30 leave for breakfast club
7.45 drop breakfast club
8.20 arrive work
8.30 work
1 30 min lunch
1.30-5 work
5.30 collect dc after school club
6 - sometimes clubs eg swimming
6.45 home dc supper stat cooking tea
7.30 kids wind down for bed and bedtime routine
8 kids in bed eat tea/exercise
9 eat tea if exercise first. House jobs pack bags make lunch etc.
10.30 bedtime
11 bed

8am- Get woken up by DD refusing to get out of bed and DH saying she has to.
8:25am- Sit up in bed to try and turn DD's birdnest into some sort of passable style for school. DD wiggles constantly then complains it's wonky. DH tells me that I need to hurry up.
8:55am- DD goes to school with DH.

9:00am- Log on for work.
3:30pm- DH brings DD home. DD hopefully asks if she's allowed to attend my next Teams meeting, the answer, as usual, is no.

6:00pm- Finish work.
6:30pm- Start dinner.
7:30pm- Serve dinner. DD immediately tells me she hates it.
8:00pm- Tell DD to go and get her PJs on and brush her teeth.
8:45pm- DD actually gets her PJs on and brushes her teeth.
9:00pm- Read to DD, usually some sort of heavyweight classic from the 1800s. 9:30pm- Leave DD to read to herself.
9:50pm- DD goes to sleep. Watch TV until eyes start to close.
12am- Go to sleep.

I don't believe we have to be endlessly efficient in life.

I don't really have a daily routine. I get up at different times and go to bed at different times depending on how busy I am and what is happening and I eat when I'm hungry rather than at set times.

Yesterday I got up at 7am, got into work at 9, worked until 5.15, got the train, really delayed on the way home so didn't get in until 7pm, luckily had a snack on the train as I had to go almost straight out again. Yoga 7.45-8.45, light meal after. Bed about 11 pm.

Today I was up super early as I had a lot to do this morning, started work at home at 6am, will finish about 4pm then will walk the dog, run to the gym about 6pm and do weights, late dinner and bed when I'm tired, probably earlier rather than later given the early start.

5:15am - alarm and get up
5:30am - feed dog
5:40am - shower/hair/get ready sometimes clean bathroom
6:45am - leave for work
7:30am - arrive at work, brew, general mess around
8:00am - start work
12pm - lunch sometimes have a walk if weather ok
1pm - work
4pm - finish work drive home, might ring Dad
5pm - home, walk dog on own if DH on lates/nights
6pm - feed dog, make tea (I’m northern it’s tea 😂)
6pm - clean floors - dog is a nightmare
6:30pm - tidy up
7pm - sit on sofa, tv, doomscrolling, play with dog
9pm - dog has supper 😂
9:30/10pm - bed

no DC. Saturday is usually jobs day. DH works shifts

5am Alarm goes off, get up, brush teeth, put on gym clothes, make coffee
5.30am leave for gym
6.45 get back home
7am walk dog
8am shower and get dressed for work (WFH)
9am-2pm work
2pm take dog for a quick walk, eat lunch, get the washing out and put another load on
3pm-6pm work
6pm- get wash out, fold clothes off the airer or line and put away, feed animals whilst DH cooks dinner
7.30pm eat dinner, clean up kitchen
8pm- watch TV with DH until one of us is falling asleep
go to bed

What someone does shows you their priorities.

You have a number of hours in the day where you are doing what you HAVE TO do. Sleep, cook, eat, shower, work.

The remaining time you choose how you use it. You do lots of things that sound laudable, things that good sensible people do (exercise, cleaning, etc). No criticism there but if you genuinely want to be doing something different these things need to give way.

You aren't inefficient but you aren't using your time as you think you want to be using it. Get a diary, block out the time related to things that must be done, then make a genuine decision on what to use the remainder of the time for.

I’m out at work for 13 hours of the day so it’s way more efficient than mine.

I WFH, 2 kids.
6am woken by kids (I haven't heard an alarm since my eldest was born). Sort them breakfast and get dressed etc.
7am - 5.30pm work, with a 20 minute break at 8.30 to drop eldest at school. I use this as my lunch break and take no other breaks.
5.30 - 7 cooking, laundry, cleaning, laundry, eating, chatting to kids, laundry .

We alternative bedtimes. If it's my turn:
7-8.30 bedtime routine
8.30 - 9 clean up downstairs
9-10 TV
10-11 life admin, emails, online food shop, paying bills etc, try to read a bit.
11 crash.

If I'm not doing bedtime I'll do music practice, go for a run or work more.

I feel like I have barely any 'free' time. I would love to reduce my hours a little to have any time at home for jobs without children here.

Routine will differ slightly based on kids clubs and I wfh 2 days a week. A wfh day is generally:

5.25 - alarm, get up and get ready for, and travel to, gym
6 - 8 - CrossFit classes
8 - 9 - travel home, sort DC breakfast, lunch boxes, drag them out of bed etc and then take them to school (both primary), walk dog
9 - 245 - work and will eat lunch whilst working at some point
245-315 - school run with dog
315 - 5ish - work
530 - make dinner and eat with DC, leave a portion for DH when he gets home, tidy up
630 - 815 - dropping/watching/collecting DC at football (different locations and slightly different times)
815 - wash & dry hair
9 - DC in bed, watch tv
10 - bed

Alarm at 7
Get up, sort kids lunches, have coffee
Wake kids 7.30
Get dressed etc.
Leave house 8.10. Kids walk themselves or get bus
Short walk to work. Start 8.30
10 min break at 10.30. Eat breakfast
Work till 2 then walk home just as kids arrive home so lots of news etc
2.30 to 3 eat lunch
3 to 5 30 laundry, food prep, spending time with kids, drop to activities 2 days, have time for scrolling and chilling on other days, walk dog
6 prep dinner
7 eat with kids and tidy up.
7 to 9 either watch tv and chill, or kids drop offs, or grocery shop or exercise
9 to 10 prep for morning, chat to kids, sort out random stupid problems for everyone..
10 to 11 watch tv with Dh
11 upstairs and read
12ish fall asleep

I’m in the trenches with two little ones under 5, so all the routines above sound super productive to me!

A typical work day for me goes:
6ish: woken up by one of the kids or our elderly dog. DH and I split getting the kids up/letting the dog out.
7ish: sort breakfast for the kids and dog. I have a probiotic with some water and slap some sunscreen on my face. DH leaves for work around 7:15 and I spend some time wrestling with the kids, splitting up squabbles, laughing, and brushing teeth.
8am: nursery drop-off on foot. When I get home I make breakfast and a cup of tea, which I eat in front of the tv.
9am: log on and start work
11ish: do a 30-min exercise session - either rowing, dumbbells or body weight exercises, then shower. Log back on and work until I’m hungry.
1ish: make and eat lunch.
Late afternoon some time (depends on weather): dog walk for an hour
5:30ish: DH picks kids up and arrives home. I’ll sort a snack.
6: kids’ bath on alternating days. Start bedtime routines.
7:30: make dinner and collapse in front of the TV.
9: get ready for bed then read for 30 mins or so before falling asleep.

It’s not exactly rock n roll but I’m proud I’ve made exercise a part of my typical routine after years of doing nothing beyond dog walks!

5am - cry when alarm goes off
5.10am - get up and dressed, let the poor starving cats in
5.20 - 6.15 - run
6.30 - 7.20 - sit with my coffee, cuddle cats and catch up on the world MN and DM
7.20 - 7.50 - shower, hair and makeup and head to work
8.00 - 16.00 - deal with demanding customers and lazy idiotic colleagues
17.00 - 18.00 - Pilates or weight training
19.00 - 20.00 - dinner, relax and choose a good series to watch
20.30 - 21.30 - wake up on sofa with a stiff neck, rewind good series but eventually give up and go to bed.

6am get up with profoundly autistic DS. Attend to his needs.
6.30am DDs get up. Help sort their breakfast, make sure they’ve got what they need for school.
7.15am DDs leave for school, I get DS ready (dressed, washed, fed).
7.45am We leave for DS’s special school, 1 hour away.
10am I get home from school run.
10-2pm work (from home). Quick sandwich at desk at some point.
2pm leave to pick DS up.
4pm get home.
4pm-5pm spend some time with DS doing therapies
5pm DDs get home
5pm-6pm prepare and eat dinner
6pm-8pm care for DS (constant supervision required)
8-9pm bath him and get him to bed (DDs also go to bed at around 8.30pm)
9pm-11pm work, quick tidy of kitchen etc
11pm- 6am bed, have to sleep alongside DS who wakes frequently

Not many hobbies/projects going on in there!