My Ideal Day
The first steps to achieving a goal are to determine and say it, right? To that end, here's what I want my typical day to look like, probably 2-5 years from now. Some of this will sound entirely mundane, but much of it requires some particular types of environment and circumstances. Arranging my life to bring those about is something this exercise is meant to help with.
I wake up around 7-9AM, having gotten a full night's sleep in a quiet place. My nesting partner probably shared my bed, and maybe we get up together or a short while apart. I get dressed, brush my teeth, then wander somewhere comfortable, perhaps inside or out. I spend 10-20 minutes on my computer or phone catching up on messages and posts from friends near and far.
Next I go out to the workshop or garage or barn to take quick next steps in some ongoing project. Perhaps flipping over something to dry, moving something from an oven or kiln to a cooling rack, starting a next batch of 3d printed components, etc. Or maybe I'm doing a quick chore like letting the chickens out to pasture, rotating the compost, etc. Something easy and productive that makes sense after letting it sit overnight.
At this point I enter a more social environment, with my partner and some of our intentional community neighbors. Someone, possibly me, is preparing a simple breakfast for half a dozen people or more. It might involve grits or oatmeal, bacon and eggs, fruit, etc. Everyone in the household or community knows where and when breakfast is typically shared, so I get to see many of my closest neighbors for at least a few minutes while we eat. We chat about our plans for the day, exciting parts of the previous day, etc.
The rest of my morning and into the afternoon involves productive projects. I could be working in the wood shop, doing some home improvement, coordinating community or event logistics, or working some sort of day job. This is where I'll usually have the most alone time, although collaboration will also be common. Whatever I am doing to “earn a living” will probably happen in this window, whether that's selling furniture or teaching classes or writing software. If I have lunch, which is more likely if I'm doing more physically demanding work, then it probably happens in the middle of this.
In the early evening I might help cook or relax before eating. Most of the community members will gather for dinner, perhaps around 6PM. Once every week or two this will segue into a community meeting, but the more typical day will just be social conversation and maybe a bit of planning for tomorrow.
Along the way between my morning routine and the wind down after dinner, I expect to have done about a half hour of work toward the maintenance of the space. This includes typical chores like cleaning and lawn care, but also more bespoke tasks specific to the community environment. Some days I'll have done this alone, and some working alongside one or two other people.
After dinner I will either do recreational things alone or with a partner or friend, or I'll participate in the rotating schedule of social activities in the community. Throughout the week and month I'll have the choice to attend movie nights, music jams, lightning talks, board and video games, etc.
One or two nights a week I'll expect more of a party atmosphere, around the fire pit or in our community lounge or theater, or traveling alone or with friends somewhere in the nearby/surrounding city for an event. Most nights I'll wind down quietly with some reading, video games, writing, and/or time with my partner. Then a shower and bed.
Even including the occasional exceptions described above, I wouldn't want every day to be like this. 60-80% would probably be about right, with the other 20-40% of my days following wildly different patterns. I expect to spend at least one weekend a month and a few weeks a year hosting and participating in multi-day all-day events. There will be some local and national and international travel, and corresponding gaps of days to weeks in this schedule. I will at least occasionally go all in on a project, spending 12-16 hours a day on it for multiple days to deliver some significant milestone or accomplishment. But, at the end of any of those diversions, I would want to come back to a routine something like this.
Having written this, I am now considering updates to my dating doc and personal user manual. My life goals haven't changed much since I wrote them, but there are some details here that could be relevant and newly insightful. I guess I'll consider those updates as things I could do later this month as part of this writing challenge.
The attached image is an aspirational schedule for a 50-150 person intentional [meta]community that I intend to create, which environment would correspond pretty closely to this life that I want to live.