The Daily Growth Blog #3/365 | A day in my life
I’m really not sure why I wanted to write this. Just a thought that came into my head and I thought of how it might serve the larger purpose of giving my future (older) self a look into how he got to wherever he does get to. It might also serve as a good starting point for those who are trying to create some sort of structure in their lives.
Let’s start with the core ‘whys’ first
Ever since I stopped working full time, in the corporate world, I’ve had a lot more time on my hands. There are some responsibilities, obviously, but I still have the power to control the bulk of my calendar and plan my day as I’d like to.
Getting to the Whys first
I quit working to do a lot of things that I’d set aside for ‘later’ in life. The pandemic probably accelerated the understanding of the frivolity of keeping things for the ‘future’. Hence taking time off to do things I wanted to do, and not keep running full speed ahead, made sense to me.
Why #1 — Content writing, building my YouTube channel (learning how to weave stories, edit and create videos), working on my fitness (finally started Nike runs to supplement my staggered gym routine), practising mindfulness, working in the social sector (had to mend some of my accumulated selfish-karma), being there for my family, figuring out my next career journey (+ upskilling for it) and spending time trying to unearth the true inner ‘me’. (A lot of this is abstract and doesn’t make any sense, I know).
Why #2 — I’ve always been a strong believer of the old adage — Real freedom comes from discipline. Hence, the need to structure my day and ensure I am clear on how I spend my day without external agents blocking my calendar for calls, meetings and performance reviews.
Why #3 — Within all the structure lies a simple belief in still being able to enjoy a bit of flex and not kill myself in the pursuit of my own personally defined goals. If I feel like going to the mall, on a cool Wednesday morning, I will get out and drive to the nearest mall. If I feel like a city ride on a Monday morning, hell yeah, I will jump on my motorbike and go do that ride!
Why #4 — Goals! Yes, as cliched as it is (because it is true), goals & objectives go a long way in helping us stay on top of our game. It’s all about visualizing and then achieving.
Blocks v/s Time Slots
Now that we’re clear on the core reasons behind the structure, the next major learning for me was in creating the structure itself. I knew that all my creative pursuits would need some form of extended sessions, not restricted to the default half hour or one hour Google calendar events. Hence, I fell in love with the concept of blocks. 3-hour blocks for content / upskilling / mindfulness / chilling and the usual 1.5 hour block for fitness (gymming / running).
Calendar blocks helped me stay focused but at the same time gave me enough room to be free and creative with my goals.
Initially I started with fixed blocks for the entire week but then started playing around a bit so I stayed fresh and excited about the days. (Going into a monotonous routine during this phase of life would have been quite a sad irony). This evolved into day blocks where one day would have two mega-blocks (say, content and career) followed by a day with two different mega blocks (upskilling and fitness + chilling).
All in all, a good, healthy compromise between discipline and creativity (I believe).
Since then I have moved on from specific blocks and in the last month or so, with the number of interviews and recruitment-related tasks increasing, I’ve started looking at each day with a set of to-dos. I plan the day as per my to-dos and have 1–2 hour sitting-blocks where I complete a to-do, get up, have some coffee or go for a walk, come back and sit again for my next to-do. It’s working well too!
Finally let’s get to a typical day (Today, for instance)
5.30am: Wake up call. I like to start by clearing up the kitchen, heating some water in the electric kettle, preparing lemon+honey water for ze lady & me and ‘visiting’ the restroom for my morning enlightenment. I’m also following Mel Robbins’ high-five rule for the last couple of weeks so I enjoy looking at myself and punching my fist on the mirror or high-fiving myself. (Reference Link).
6.30am: My brother and I take his dog, Ginnie, for a walk, chat about random things under the sun. If he’s not up, I like to get a run in (Ginnie does join me for these runs and helps me beat my records because she’s damn fast). The Nike Running Club (NRC) is amazing. Coach Bennett rocks!
7.30–8am: Take a cold shower (first bath has to be cold — gets the blood flowing and reduces muscle soreness). Then I get to the first meal of the day which is always 3 eggs, 2 breads and a protein shake.
8.30am: Sit down with a cup of coffee to get started with my day on my laptop. I normally spend the first hour looking at some news articles, listening to some Lo-fi music and writing my to-do list out (No I still haven’t got to the habit of writing my to-do list the night before).
9.30-11am: My first block where I’ll get some work done. Today I was prepping for an Ad Sales interview so I spent time researching about the digital landscape of India and how consumer behaviour was changing.
11am: I like to have a bowl of oats with some protein. I’ll watch an epsiode of any series on Netflix that I am hooked on to. (Right now it is Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt).
1130am–12pm: Today I got ready for my interview, went through all my notes, set aside some cue cards around my laptop and gave myself another high-five
12–1pm: INTERVIEW! Was a harrowing experience, but a fun one!
1–2.30pm: Usually reserved for lunch and a quick power nap (30mins of pure unadulterated blissful sleep). I usually read myself to sleep — I am reading this book called the ‘Psychology of Money’ right now. Wonderful insights!
2.30–4pm: The next to-do block. Today I also had a LunchClub session between 3.15–4pm so had a wonderful discussion with a woman founder. Spoke about empathy, life and how being ‘nice’ is a rare skill nowadays.
4–5.30pm: Grab another cup of coffee or a protein shake (I didn’t hit the gym today because I am down with a cold) and get to my next set of to-dos. At 4.30 I also had another mentorship session, had a great fun chat with an old team member. We checked-in, made growth plans for the next month and generally chatted about how life was progressing. Always good!
5.30–6.30pm: Vijeet and I take Ginnie out for her usual evening walk. We’ve started walking to a nearby restaurant and having orange juice (me) and pineapple (Vijeet) juice. Again, spending time chatting about life. I’ve never really had this time with Vijeet (my younger brother) since we never stayed together since 2013 so it is nice to be able to do these walks with him (and his dog).
6.30–7.30pm: A final work block to get to any pending tasks, finish any quick content publishing items that I’ve procrastinated on and do a general check of next day’s calendar.
7.30–8.30pm: We (Wife, brother, me and mom, if she’s here) like to have dinner in this time, and I take a long time to eat so we sit and talk a bit. It’s nice.
8.30–9pm: We might watch a common show. For instance, we were watching ‘One Mic Stand’ on Prime Video this past week. Azeem Banatwalla’s stand up is also something we finished watching today. Extremely intelligent, this dude.
9–10pm: We might go down for a quick walk, come back up, and I write my Growth Blog before hitting the bed. I switch off my phones, leave them in another room and only read myself to sleep. I’m reading Mark Tully’s ‘India in Slow Motion’ right now. It’s a wonderful book. I usually sleep quite suddenly, without any realisation and may wake up some time in the middle of the night, drooling on to the pages of the book. It is an occupational hazard. Ah, well. All is well that ends well.
That’s about it from me. Like I said, it is a very interesting phase of life and I’m sure I’ll look back at this phase fondly, and know that this pause was perhaps one of the most profound experiences that will help shape the next mega-phase of my professional and personal journey. Till next time, Cheers!