My daily routine as a new father

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Back in 2015, I wrote an article detailing my daily routine, aimed at maximizing my productivity during the day.

The biggest change that’s taken place in my life in the past few months is becoming a father of course!

So what changes did I have to make to my daily routine now that I’m a father, especially one who finds it extremely difficult to spend time away from his son?

Here is what my new daily routine has looked like for the past couple of months.

On weekdays

Morning

  • 5:30am alarm goes off. I never snooze, so straight out of bed.

  • 5:31am 300ml water + 300ml water + lemon juice (you cannot believe how much water you lose through your breath at night, especially in an air conditioned room)

  • 5:32am measure Heart Rate Variability (critical to plan my day) 

  • 5:35-6:15am coffee, reading, toilet duties

  • 6:15-6:40am time with my son, who’s usually awake

  • 6:45-7:45am first workout of the day

  • 8:00-8:45am breakfast, shower, day planning, get ready for work

  • 8:45am leave for work 

Day time

  • 9:00am-6:00pm work

  • However I take a number of short 15min breaks during the day and during which I read, listen to an audiobook, or take a walk.

Evening

  • 6:30-7:20pm second workout of the day, usually a BJJ class (3-4x a week)

  • 7:30-8:15pm giving my son a bath and his bottle and put him to sleep (we take turns)

  • 8:15pm-10:00pm dinner and quality time with my wife

  • 10:00pm bed

 

Weekends

Friday

  • Wake up: between 6:00-7:00 depending on what time I went to bed (my body will wake me up by 7 regardless of what time  I went to bed).

  • 45-60min with my son.

  • 1.5-2 hours training (usually MMA training).

  • Rest of the day I spend with my wife and son. I try to dedicate a lot of quality time with my son for reading, exercising, different forms of sensory stimulation. We usually go out for a few hours to get him used to being around people and large spaces. I give him most of his feedings as it enhances bonding (and I love it!).


Saturday

  • Wake up: 6:30am, and at the gym by 7:00 for a quick workout (usually 45-60min).

  • 9:00am I take my son to a baby sensory activities class.

  • Rest of the day: similar to Friday: quality time with my wife and son doing various activities. Lower intensity though as his Sat morning class is quite heavy on sensory stimulation and he’s usually quite tired afterwards.

  • In bed by 10:00pm ready to start a new week on Sunday morning.

 

My targets for each week

  • Spend quality time with my son in the morning and evening during the work week. I especially focus on feeding, bath time, and putting him to sleep.

  • Spend quality time with my wife on weeknights.

  • Spend a lot more quality time with my wife and son on weekends, and make sure he gets appropriate physical and mental exercise.

  • Exercise: minimum of 9 hours per week.

  • Sleep: minimum of 7.5 hours per night.

  • Reading: minimum of 6-7 hours per week.

 

Things I wish to improve upon

  • Have dinner earlier on weekdays: it’s primarily dictated by the fixed BJJ class schedule: unlikely that I can fix that in the short term.

  • Work from home one day a week: spend more time with family: Work in progress.

  • Spend less time during the day spying on my son via the baby monitor: hopeless!! 


I hope this helps demonstrate that with proper planning, one can be quite productive and still spend quality time with family, take care of their fitness, sleep, knowledge, and career obligations.

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