planning a neurodivergent weekly work schedule
including pool time, thrift time, and bad show time
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, and while it feels a little navel-gazey, I love reading them from others, so why not? The transition into summer this year has been really bumpy. While I’m able to take time off in the summer and my husband has the summer off from his job, June is a really busy month for us. Our usual schedule not only changes abruptly, but no day is the same. I will never not rage about the fact that we could solve world hunger if we had the combined energy of every family’s efforts to find childcare for their kids each summer (and school holiday).
Monday:
5:00am: Sleep has always been hard for me, and while CBT-I has worked for me for a few months, something has shifted (maybe my June anxiety) and it’s not at the moment. I wake up at 2:00am, read for at least an hour (in bed, which is a no-no in CBT-I but who wants to get out of bed in the middle of the night?), and when I wake up again at 5:00am, I know my day has started.
5:00-7:00am: I putter around a bit, make coffee, and plan my week in my Leuchtturm notebook, bullet journal style (but I don’t get crazy with color coding and stickers and all that). I don’t always refer to it during the week, because I use my Google calendar as my digital bible, but I saw a video on TikTok recently that just the act of writing everything out is a way to process the week and I realized that’s fully why it’s helpful for me. After I hand write everything, I look to see what the most important things are that I need to accomplish this week and actually schedule time in my Google calendar to do them. I am constantly trying to do more than is humanly possible and this method has helped me see what I actually have the time to do. And I still usually underestimate the time it takes for tasks or how much energy I’ll have for them.
7:00am: I always try to get an hour of “me time” before my kids are up (if I actually had the ability to sleep later, I would probably not do this), which usually means checking personal email, work email (I used to have work and personal go to the same place but separating them has been a game changer), Instagram, Substack, and then scrolling TikTok for an hour.
8:00am: I get my 6 year old up for day camp. One of the things that’s been throwing off our rhythm in June is that my 11 year old has band camp from 8:00-9:30am every morning 😫 That means I have to get him up at 7:15am, leave at 7:45am, get back home at 8:15am, get my 6yo up, get all their camp stuff ready, leave at 9:15 to pick up 11yo at band, drive both of them to day camp, and then get home at 9:45am after all this. God, it’s exhausting just to write this all out. If you’re wondering where my husband is in all this (I sure as hell would be), in addition to working his regular job, he’s working on a big home project that I'd rather didn’t take months, so I’m trying to handle everything else while he focuses on that. Normally we’d be splitting all this 50/50. HOWEVER, this week, my 11yo is at sleepaway camp (hallelujah), so none of that needs to happen!
9:15am: back from dropoff and I finished the next day’s post, which I had gotten 95% of the way there the previous week. In case you’re not a Substacker, these are the tasks that have to happen after you’ve finished the actual writing: add to Substack template, create graphics, write an SEO description, add subscribe buttons and calls to action, schedule it, and create social media posts to promote it.
10:00am: create aforementioned social media graphics.
11:00: I’m behind on my (self-imposed) schedule. I had hoped to choose two topics for future posts (there are probably a hundred on my list) and draft one of them, but I only have time to choose them.
11:30: Lunch. Leftover pizza while I watch Property Brothers Forever Home.
11:55am: I get a text from the head of the camp that my 6yo has no lunch. I tried to get prepped for this week by making his lunch last night, but making it ahead doesn't help when you don’t put it in his backpack. I believe I have ADHD (along with official diagnoses of anxiety and depression), and I’m feeling really frustrated with myself lately for all these little things I’m forgetting (last week my son had a sleepover and I had to bring things to him TWICE that we’d forgotten). Even though I’m hosting our weekly Substack mastermind meeting, I drop a note in our discussion thread for someone else to start the meeting and I run over to the camp to drop off the lunch. Thank goodness it’s only a couple of miles away.
12:10pm: I meet with my amazing group of female Substackers (I mentioned more about this in this post). We discuss strategy behind monthly vs. annual pricing and paywall placement.
1:30pm: another meeting.
3:00pm: pick up from camp. We come home and both have (a lot of) screen time.
8:00pm: start bedtime routine and read a few books together.
8:30pm: I couldn’t tell you what I did from this time until I went to bed, but I’m sure it involved puttering and TikTok.
Tuesday:
7:25am: I wake up to my alarm after taking a sleeping pill the night before, about 1.5 to 2 hours later than my usual wake-up time. I needed the rest, especially after yesterday’s 5:00am wakeup.
7:30am: I check on my Substack post that went live this morning and post the accompanying content on social media. This one seems to be resonating more than most.
8:15am: I get my 6yo ready and take him to day camp. Then I head straight to the library to get a change of scenery for work. It’s a beautiful building with glass walls overlooking an animal park. While I’m there, I see two elk sprinting across the field. Yep, elk.
9:15am: I work on a new Substack post from the library. The view helps.
11:00am: I head home and heat up Trader Joe’s green curry for lunch.
11:30am: I do some prep work for the final live meeting of my group program, Making Space (put in your email to get on the list to hear about the next session). It always feels bittersweet to wrap a session.
12:00pm: Group program meeting. As always, the live interaction is the most rewarding part of what I do.
1:30pm: I eat a little more lunch and zone out for a bit.
2:30pm: I pick up my son early from camp and take him to my mother-in-law’s so the house can be quiet for a meeting I have this afternoon. Again, my husband is working on his big project, so I’m solo on logistics.
3:15pm: My call is important but also completely wipes me out.
4:30pm: Instead of scrolling TikTok (which I’m tempted to do), I actually read a book for a while in the quiet house.
6:00pm: My son gets home and we grab Jimmy John’s for dinner. He picks out a Property Brothers episode and we watch together. He likes the demo part best.
8:00pm: My husband is finally done working for the day and takes over bedtime duty. I scroll TikTok for a bit but catch myself around 9:15 so I can get in bed by 9:30.
Wednesday:
6:00am: I wake up and do a short walk around the block, still trying to wait to open my phone until I get some outside time.
6:30am: Scroll TikTok for probably an hour (🙃).
8:30am: I’m so wiped that I actually get my husband to do dropoff and go back to bed, which I haven’t done in a long time. I set my alarm in time to get to Pilates.
11:00am: Pilates.
12:15pm: Back home for a phone call with
12:45pm: Lunch: rice, cucumber salad, and a hard-boiled egg, with gochujang.
1:00pm: I head out for a Pap smear.
2:30pm: I pick up my 6-year-old from day camp and collapse into bed. Start googling chronic illness symptoms (never a good idea).
4:00pm: Physical therapy for my neck pain.
7:30pm: My 11yo returns from sleepaway camp! He had a great time but he is *exhausted*.
Thursday:
8:00am: Alarm goes off after 10 hours of sleep (thank you, trazodone). I make coffee and get my 6yo ready for camp.
9:00am: Back from dropoff. I do about an hour of client shopping and then putter around.
10:30am: I’m hungry, so I eat an early lunch, same as yesterday: rice, cucumber, egg, gochujang.
11:30am: Client call to strategize consignment options. I’d already prepped a spreadsheet of stores near her.
12:00pm: I eat something else, but honestly couldn’t tell you what it was.
12:30pm: Try-on session with another client. People sometimes have a hard time envisioning how we’ll edit their closet or try on clothes remotely, but it really isn’t that hard. She’s anxious (as many people are) when trying on clothes that nothing will work. I remind her of my experience that 1 in 10 items working is a success. We work through about 40 items (it’s often more) and then spend another 15 minutes reviewing our final choices. She also has several pairs of pants and jeans that she’ll need to wear around the house for a while to see how they stretch out to be able to make a decision. This client has pretty serious body image issues and has especially had trouble finding pants that fit in the past and after we’re done, she’s still bummed that we didn’t do well on pants. I have to remind her that actually, we got six pairs of pants/jeans, the same number as how many tops we’re keeping. And that our average was about 1 out of 4 items working instead of 1 out of 10, so we’ve actually done quite well. Those thought patterns get really ingrained!
2:00pm: Session wraps. I lie down with
2:30pm: Start getting everything ready for the pool. Why does this feel like it takes. hours? 😩
3:00pm: At the pool: some watching the kids, some reading, some shade, and a snack bar corn dog (unfortunately it was not good, which really bummed me out because I love corndogs).
5:00pm: Head home. My son has been outside for 8 hours today between camp and pool, so it’s screen time for everyone. We coast until bedtime around 8:30.
Friday:
8:00am: Wake up after another 9-hour night of sleep 🎉. Pack lunch and do camp dropoff.
9:15am: Quick prep session for a client.
10:00am: Massage appointment, a rare treat. Lots of chatting about our kids.
11:00am: Trader Joe’s is on the way home, so I stop in for cornichons, theirs are the best and my 6yo loves eating them with hard boiled eggs.
11:30am: Eat some lentil thing from TJ’s for lunch and watch And Just Like That (I can’t explain why I do this).
12:15pm: A little more client prep.
12:30pm: Client session.
1:40pm: Admin time: transferring money, paying taxes, writing this post.
2:45pm: Time for pickup.
4:00pm: Someone stops by to look at the stove I listed on FB marketplace since we’re switching to induction.
4:30pm: While I’m on marketplace, I see a listing for a really good price on some Elfa closet drawers. I make sure they’re compatible with my Rubbermaid brackets (they are) and head out. On the way home, I pop into a thrift store for the first time in a while. I find extra swimsuits for the boys (so I don’t have to remember to pack one every time they go to grandma’s) and a vintage men’s tee and a few sports bra-type things (for wearing under skimpy tops in the heat) for me.
6:00pm: I pick up Panera on the way home.
7:00pm: Wash dishes while watching And Just Like That (again, no explanation for this behavior).
8:30pm: Kids go to bed late, which delays my alone time 😫 since my husband has to work tonight.
10:30pm: I go to bed too.
FIN
Thanks for following along!
P.S. I’ll be taking next week off for summer travel, I’ll see you back here on the 8th.
P.P.S. If the thought of working with me as a personal client is intriguing, go here to book a free 15-minute call to talk about what that could look like for you. I’m currently booking for September. If you’re interested in working with me in a group setting, go here to be the first to hear about the next session.
Thank you so much for detailing a few days of your current life, moments, etc. Selfishly, your description made me feel less alone, adrift. My ADHD (executive function disorder), plus depression/dysthymia and some specific grieving, has combined to create a hailstorm in my head. No motivation, no time-keeping abilities, no desire to do anything besides sit in one spot for hours. No starts, no finishes but loads of self-grumbles. I've already transited through the disruptions of peri- and menopause, so I've no idea why things are so hard in my body these days. But it feels like decades of masking, 'doing,' and interacting have finally extracted all my 'get up and go.'
I hope your morning me-time and time outside (not this week? ugh, hot!) is restorative!
Another chronic illness buddy saluting your ability to get things done!