Yesterday, Cameron Moll posted an interesting discussion on Designer News and asked for others to share their daily routines. It was a fun exercise and wasn’t something I had ever written out before. Here’s how my day usually goes:

  • 6:30am – Alarm plays music from Skyrim soundtrack by Jeremy Soule (much better than “BEEP BEEP BEEP”)
  • 7:00am – In-person client meetings today? Shower. No meetings? Less shower.
  • 7:30am – Feed dog, chase dog with 15-month-old daughter, help wife feed daughter her breakfast, dog gets food that drops on the floor.
  • 8:00am – Kiss wife goodbye, make “long” work commute to at-home office, put on noise-cancelling headphones to block out sounds of daughter still chasing dog.
  • 8:01am – Fire up computer, read emails, check news, general business upkeep (new leads, invoices, mail, etc.), review daily schedule in TeuxDeux, and often catch up with my parents and/or brothers with a phone call around this time as well.
  • 8:30am – Client work, lots of coding, some design.
  • 11:45am – Lunch, client calls, errands. Time and weather permitting, walk the neighborhood with wife and daughter or go on a local hike.
  • 1:00pm – Back to work. This is when my productivity is greatest.
  • 3:00pm – Short break to stretch legs again, then more work.
  • 5:00pm – Dinner and family time. Depending on the season, there’s usually snow blowing or lawn mowing at least once a week.
  • 7:00pm – Workout. Admittedly, this is the activity that gets cut out when my schedule fluctuates, which is often the case when you’re self-employed.
  • 7:30pm – This time slot varies every day but most often it’s used to pursue side projects, personal writing, and hanging out with my wife. During the Milky Way season in our area (like right now), I might also take this time to prep camera gear for a night shoot.
  • 11:00pm – Covertly check on daughter sleeping in her crib with my iPhone’s light. Go to bed.

Of course, no two days are exactly alike but that’s part of what keeps my job interesting. To make sure each day was well-rounded and accomplished, I came up with the Rule of One, which I wrote about in a previous article.