I was chatting over coffee with a musician friend Johnny Blair recently at Madhouse Coffee. We have coffee every Wednesday morning with a couple of other entrepreneurs to discuss business, life hacks and other interesting topics that arise such as our morning routines. This would be considered like an idea “jam session” of sorts.
We were talking about our morning routine and I was laying out mine and what I thought an ideal day was for me.
My morning routine, Monday through Friday starts at 4:50 am, yes 4:50. Normally I wake up before the alarm. I get dressed for the gym and then get on an inspirational call with Sharran Srivatsaa and about 160 people that lasts for about 5 minutes. This is called the 5am Club. This is a listen only inspirational call. I then take the drive from my house to Planet Fitness in Daly City. Workout starts at 5:30 and lasts until 6:15. It’s interesting to be at the gym at the same time everyday. Almost everybody in there is there everyday. I had the idea to move away from the machines that face the televisions (your mind thinks about what you look at) so I can focus on the podcast that I’m listening to and in the process witness a lot of crazy antics on the gym floor as well that could fill another blog post.
By 6:30 I make my way to Madhouse Coffee for breakfast, usually an egg bowl and toast. Again, I see the same people in there at the same time. We are creatures of habit.
By 7:00 I’m home, bringing a cup of coffee for my wife. I then get a chance to read for about an hour if I’m not distracted by any household chores. This gets me to the office around 9am. Mornings are best for prospecting and returning phone calls etc.
When we were chatting about our daily schedule I thought about how learning and executing a schedule is like learning a song. I will be playing drums for a band who’s drummer will be out for a gig and there’s one song that’s tough and I start at the beginning and play till I make a mistake and then start over. Like my daily schedule, I have to take all the measures one at a time and execute.
Solos! What’s a song without a good couple of solos? This is where time blocking (solos) come in. An hour to an hour and a half of prospecting, accounting, meetings, marketing are like solos in a song. They are usually different each day but work to bring a balance and productivity to the day. It’s a time of focusing on one thing. Don’t let solos take over the day! A solo is nice when it’s fairly short and doesn’t dominate the entire song.
Just as you couldn’t listen to the same song every day your work day can’t be exactly the same every day. Some days are Reggae and some are Jazz while other days can feel like Heavy Metal or Punk Rock. Some are just plain out of key.
What’s your day sound like?
Written on the beach in St. Martin. It’s a Reggae day.
