The ideal day
I heard some advice that you should map out a perfect weekday for yourself. Not one where you are free from all distractions and can do whatever you want, but an actual day with all of its usual commitments, in its most ideal form. So I thought that'd be a useful exercise for myself to think through it.
Early Morning
My mornings start early, and I'd want to continue that. I'm up by 6AM, and on an ideal day I'm reading an article and having a cup of coffee, then carving a bit of time for writing (usually for History of the Web). I love the clarity and quiet of the morning even if I have to wake up extra early to do it with the kiddos around.
By 7 or 730AM I'm winding that down and getting the kids ready. Again, ideally, I'm present with them and finding ways for us to play together for about an hour before everybody's off to school or daycare.
Mid-Morning
If I have a time of day to focus, it's in the first half of work, from about 9AM to noon, where I don't have a lot of meetings or other distractions.
I like when I can pick out one project to fill a good chunk of that time. Something at work that requires a few things, and I can batch those together and spend a few hours. I can close out that working session with some notes to myself, and a bit of a midday routine / lunch.
Afternoon
Afternoon's are typically when I'm talking to people a lot, either with meetings or requests, or stuff like that. So it can be kind of a distracting time, which is okay as long as I allow for it. So the key to making the afternoon ideal is the opposite of the morning. I need to free myself from deep work to allow for some time to move between those different things and requests. This is where the 15 minute tasks I've been experimenting with really come in handy. If I have a few small things to do, at work or around the house, this is the best time to do it while I'm a bit distracted.
Evening
I'm closing up at around 4PM. Again, since we're thinking ideal day, my oldest comes home and actually finds something to do on his own so I can do some cooking and maybe actually get some time for a recipe I've been thinking about.
This time is manic and uncontrollable. I've tried to make something happen in these hours, and it's fruitless. Based to ride the wave.
Nighttime
After the kids go to bed, I can sneak away and close out my day. Ideally I've mapped out exactly what I need to do with this time, so it's just about finding a bit of focus and ending the day feeling like I've closed some loops.
And then we start again.
Notes & Errata
Andre Bazin, what is cinema volume 1, is such a foundational work. He stood at this perfect moment of transition in film, and he really helped define what the next iteration of cinema (and really, the rise of the auteur) would be. His essay's are filled with incredible throughlines, but also these offhand remarks:
It may be that the past 20 years of the cinema will be reckoned in its overall history as the equivalent of five centuries in literature.
Kiergekaard on frivolous business:
Of all ridiculous things the most ridiculous seems to me, to be busy — to be a man who is brisk about his food and his work.