Month: November 2020

A few months back I wrote about my 2020 “screened-in world” for my newsletter subscribers, and since at some point we’ll transition to a brave new post-COVID reality, I thought for the sake of grim posterity that I’d expand that piece into a full snapshot of my average 2020 weekday. 🚀 Buckle up…

6:00am-ish to 7:00am-ish:

I wake up, gather a ridiculous pile of devices and headphones and attempt to sneak out of the bedroom without waking up Sarah. I pour myself a coffee (followed by another), sit in a living room chair and spend some time catching up on personal email, social media and (way too much) news.

Sometimes I’ll eat cereal and take the dog out before the workday starts, sometimes mid-morning. I’m a wildcard, you can’t pigeonhole me. 🔥

A bit before 8:30am:

Sarah wakes up, gets a coffee and makes sure that the boys are up for Zoom school. They are never fans of this reminder. 😠

8:30am:

School starts. I hear Sarah welcoming her first class, along with muted voices from the other rooms. As if on cue, the dog starts barking, instantly infuriating everyone. 🐕

9:00am (sometimes earlier):

I join my daily work video standup. Our birds immediately start chirping like crazy, making my feel like the old lady outside the bank in Mary Poppins. 🐦🐦🐦

9:30am to Noon-ish:

I click, type, have video meetings, make ridiculous memes and remind nerds about various priorities, all while listening to Sarah walk her students through important literary analysis. Sometimes I also accept grocery deliveries.

Noon-ish to 1:00pm-ish:

I grab something in the house for lunch (sometimes a salad, sometimes a pile of string cheese sticks, it’s really anyone’s guess). One or more of the boys will usually emerge at this point to eat something, while also a) letting me know about new graphics card announcements or b) asking me to buy them something on Amazon.

By this point I’ll also usually have done a 10-minute Calm meditation, read a daily Bible chapter and caught up on Twitter again. 🧘✝️🐦

1:00pm-ish to 5:30pm-ish:

More clicking, typing, meeting, meme-ing and reminding, this time usually from our bedroom (if Sarah’s done teaching) for a thrilling change of venue.

5:30pm-ish:

Time for a shower! I’ll immerse myself in the decadent “shower headphones” lifestyle for a few minutes, apply various creams and miracle elixirs, then eat dinner (some days Owen will go get something, some days we’ll get something delivered, some days Sarah will make something and some days I’ll follow the directions from a HelloFresh box (which I actually find to be a strangely soothing activity). 🎧💧

6:00pm-ish to 7:30pm-ish:

I’ll repeat my morning personal email, social media and news routine. This is usually accompanied by one of the boys (typically Wilbur) raging at friends in an online game, Stewart roaming the neighborhood on his scooter, Owen watching episodes of his current TV fixation (a full Doctor Who re-watch right now) and Sarah taking a long walk and/or grading endless papers (while distracting herself by making Instagram stories about grading endless papers). 📝

7:30pm-ish to 8:00pm-ish:

Sarah and I generally move to the bedroom while the boys take over the rest of the house in true Lord of the Flies fashion. Depending on the night, we may watch episodes of a show, attend a midweek session for a new church we’re sitting in on (currently discussing institutional racism), attend a virtual book club discussion (Sarah), write newsletter material (me) or check in to see if any work shenanigans have popped up (spoiler: they have).

10:30pm to 11:00pm-ish:

Once one or both of us is done staring at screens, we call it a night, anxiously awaiting the chance to do it all again tomorrow! 🌠