As I mentioned in a previous post, from March to September 2020 I was trying to launch explor.ai, at home with four kids. It took a while to find the right rhythm, and what ultimately worked for me was to stick to a schedule, so I could have dedicated DAD/CEO time.
A [un]typical summer schedule
My role as a DAD is to keep my kids safe and happy. And as most of you know, kids don't do the same thing for hours, you need to be original. After a couple of weeks full of trial and errors, I devised a schedule that worked for them, and for me.
Fortunately, I could count on my wife to help. She would typically come back from work around 3pm, so I could then concentrate on my CEO role. Here is the schedule (sorry if its soooo long!).
6h15 - Kids are getting up one at a time, by 6h30 they got everybody awake
6h45 - Breakfast for all
7h00 - Doing the dishes, reading La Presse, kids get some unsupervised time
7h30 - Morning workout (Walking in Parc De La Cité, going to the nearest parc, home workout on music)
9h00 - explor.ai's Stand up meeting (Free time for the kids)
9h45 - morning lunch (smoothies or fruits or some nuts bar) (emails+LinkedIn for me)
10h00 - Homeworks for the kids! (I need to supervise them)
11h00 - Reading for the boys, drawing for the girls (typically I would then meet one client or AI expert)
11h30 - Preparing the dinner (some more emails for me)
12h00 - Meal time for all!
12h30 - Doing the dishes, free time for the kids (checking on the team through Slack)
13h00 - Activity time with the kids (I tried hard to have a different activity everyday!). On the rare times I had to take a call, this would change into Movie time!
14h00 - Second homework period
15h00 - Afternoon lunch (normally my wife would get back from work during that period)
15h30 - Finally getting some work done! Cold reach, meeting clients, paperwork, preparing quotes, giving interviews, improving the business model ...
18h00 - Supper and more time with the kids
20h30 - More work time!
I will admit it looks scary, but sticking to this schedule kept me sane. It helped me concentrate on the present moment, and not worry about everything else.
Ths schedule brought us stability, health promoting activities, a good rhythm, enough space for personal/professional growth and, a fun summer overall!
