Most adults have only 4-5 hours in a day to do everything they want to do

Looking at this wrote:

Most adults have only 4-5 hours in a day to do everything they want to do

That's funny.

Most adults don't have nearly 4-5 hours in a day to do everything they want to do.

I am "on the clock" from the alarm bell at 6:30am (getting the kids ready for school, getting out the door for work) until 8:30pm (getting home from work, straight to dinner and getting kids to and from activities), minimum. Assuming I don't work at home on a given night (which I do most nights), I would have 2.5 hours, 8:30-11:00 to do "everything I want to do" and be unconscious by 11:30 for 7 hours of sleep.

This is a very normal routine among parents. Thank fvck I can run in my lunch hour.

in fact they have much less wrote:

That's funny.

Most adults don't have nearly 4-5 hours in a day to do everything they want to do.

I am "on the clock" from the alarm bell at 6:30am (getting the kids ready for school, getting out the door for work) until 8:30pm (getting home from work, straight to dinner and getting kids to and from activities), minimum. Assuming I don't work at home on a given night (which I do most nights), I would have 2.5 hours, 8:30-11:00 to do "everything I want to do" and be unconscious by 11:30 for 7 hours of sleep.

This is a very normal routine among parents. Thank fvck I can run in my lunch hour.

Can i ask where posting on our forum fits into the schedule at 10:00 am? There is some hidden free time at work ;).

But yes as a parent, there isnt' much time. The one thing I say now is, "How in the world did I have time to run hundred mile weeks?"

Well, someone has to pay for all the free and necessary stuff:

1. Paris Accord

2. Free healthcare

3. Free education

4. Medicaid for able bodied adults

5. Free stuff for illegals

Etc, etc, etc

4:30am: Wake up

4:45am: Out the door running

6:00am: Coffee/breakfast/quiet time

6:30am: Shower, change, brush teeth, etc

6:45am: Parenting (infant)

8:00am: Bike to work

12:00pm to 1:00pm: Run again, or core, or just lunch

5:30pm: Return home and resume parenting

7:00pm: Put baby to sleep

7:30pm: Making dinner and spending QT with wife

9:30pm: Sleep

Yeah... about 5-6 hours of free time. Hectic, but satisfying. I'd spend the extra time playing with my kid, being outside, or drinking beer.

even a man? wrote:

hire out laundry and run instead wrote:

I can tell you it took a lot more than that to have a comfortable life and be semi-retired in my 40’s.

Hahahahaha. If you are retiring in your 40s, you must have ZERO motivation.

Pathetic.

Reading comprehension not your strong suit, is it? I specifically said “semi-retired.” To me that means being self-employed and still putting in 50+ hours a week doing exactly what I love. I wish that high school you’re in that my 30% tax bracket partly pays for did more than just warehouse you for 7 hours a day.

And the answer is wrote:

Well, someone has to pay for all the free and necessary stuff:

1. Paris Accord

2. Free healthcare

3. Free education

4. Medicaid for able bodied adults

5. Free stuff for illegals

Etc, etc, etc

But if it is free, doesn’t that mean nobody has to pay for it?

Thankfully I'm 44 years old and my two kids are already out of the house (only good thing about having kids very young).

6:00a - Get up

6:50a - Arrive at work

3:00p - Leave work

3:30p - Home

11:30p - Bed

With this current schedule I get 8 hours of "me time" per day, and with a wife that is a 2nd shift nurse, I usually get three or four evenings a week where those 8 hours are all mine all alone.

It's still not enough!

Renewed1 wrote:

The glass is either half full or half empty. You choose.

This is the ideal answer.

in fact they have much less wrote:

Looking at this wrote:

Most adults have only 4-5 hours in a day to do everything they want to do

That's funny.

Most adults don't have nearly 4-5 hours in a day to do everything they want to do.

I am "on the clock" from the alarm bell at 6:30am (getting the kids ready for school, getting out the door for work) until 8:30pm (getting home from work, straight to dinner and getting kids to and from activities), minimum. Assuming I don't work at home on a given night (which I do most nights), I would have 2.5 hours, 8:30-11:00 to do "everything I want to do" and be unconscious by 11:30 for 7 hours of sleep.

This is a very normal routine among parents. Thank fvck I can run in my lunch hour.

My day exactly. Thankfully I can run at lunch. Fine by me as well. 4~5hrs a day of free time is nonsense.

First little dude is u at 6am, last little dude goes to bed at 7:30.. then it's an hour of putting life back in order, and Breaking Bad re-runs till 11pm and off to bed.

Looking at this wrote:

Seems miserable honestly, do you ever have time for intellectual pursuits like reading or watching YT videos on academic topics? if not, do you just plateau mentally?

Apparently you are unaware that raising kids is actually challenging and an intellectual pursuit in its own right. While it would be nice to watch YouTube all night and learn about the solar system or how internal combustion engines work, raising/teaching kids is far more rewarding and interesting.

Plus it's actually hard work.. like, really, really hard work at times. But I'm sure watching vintage Ted talks is hard too. And then yes, I can listen to my science podcasts in the car each day on the way to work. It all works. I didn't realize how much time I had in the day or how bad I was at time management until there was so much to do I had no choice but to perfect the art of "fitting it all in". Then one day the kids will be out and i'll be bored as can be with all that extra time!

Graduated college in May this year after running track and XC for four years. First month of work was invigorating: moving to a new state, working in a big city, and finally making some income was great.

Second and third months were exhausting. As the sunlight started getting more and more sparse after work, I got really tired from waking up at 6 (at work at 8 with an hour commute) and getting home at 5 when the sun was already setting.

Last 3 months I've really gotten into the groove. If you can take public transit to and from work, do it. What could be a frustrating 2 hours of my day commuting can be dedicated to reading, podcasts, music, anything. I make it a point to read at least on the way to work everyday, it definitely helps. On the way home from work, answer some emails and do some life-related work stuff. I'll echo what someone else said earlier, waking up earlier to run before work is hard, but I find waking up at 5 and running before the workday is a great way to start (even when it's cold and dark outside). Funny thing was I hated waking up for 6:30 practices in college.

Yes, but you have to spend it smoking! Seriously though, does anyone get allocated a certain number of smoking breaks? I think you just have to be sensible about breaks. If you think smokers are taking more breaks than you, just get up and walk for 5-10 minutes.

Looking at this wrote:

3hr-marathoner wrote:

"Most adults have only 4-5 hours in a day to do everything they want to do."

Ummm, not adults with young children. If I get half an hour to run and an hour to myself after the kidsgo to sleep, that's a lot nowadays.

Seems miserable honestly, do you ever have time for intellectual pursuits like reading or watching YT videos on academic topics? if not, do you just plateau mentally?

Plateau? The first 3 months of fatherhood turn your brain into mush. Remember how dumb and boring your parents seemed when you were a kid? This is why. You gradually recover over the next year or so, but often it's not too long after that that you have another one.

Guy who reads books sometimes wrote:

...

Last 3 months I've really gotten into the groove. If you can take public transit to and from work, do it. What could be a frustrating 2 hours of my day commuting can be dedicated to reading, podcasts, music, anything. I make it a point to read at least on the way to work everyday, it definitely helps. On the way home from work, answer some emails and do some life-related work stuff. ....

This poster and another above are pointing out something very important. How you commute is extremely important. If you can either keep your drive short or not drive at all, you'll be far better off.

Well, at least you have more money to spending on drinking while your dreams slowly fade away.

My commute is about 30 minutes, if I ever settle into a real career that I love I will make sure to live next to my job.

Some things that have helped me in terms of time management. I definitely do not feel like I do not have time to do the things I want to do...and I have kids.

Live close to work--would I like to live in the country in an isolated haven, yes, but it is more important to me to spend less than 20 minutes (total) a day commuting. I live in a mid sized city.

Online grocery orders--involves detailed meal planning but is a big time saver. Lots of stores offer this. Free at most to drive in and pick up (on your way home from work) and you can pay to have them delivered at some places.

Embrace cooking as a hobby--I did not like cooking at first, but fast food all the time is awful. Cooking can be a time sink or you can look at it as something you enjoy and as a useful and impressive skill you cultivate.

Never eat lunch out--if at all possible exercise during lunch, or shorten your work day with a working lunch (not applicable in all situations).

Have a job that fits your lifestyle--if you have a college degree and you are a talented and personable individual you should have a job that you enjoy that fits into your life. Not every can do this and the world needs workers, but hard working well educated individuals can find a way to do this. Personally, as long as I make enough to support my family (that is important) lifestyle is way more important than income.

With this approach I spend 3-4 hours a day doing what I want. I work a lot of weekends too, and sometimes work all Saturday but I also get long Holiday breaks.

Welcome to being an adult! but life should be enjoyable and not a grind.

I don't think 6:30-5:30 is very accurate unless you're in a huge city and you're apparently working more than 8 hour work days. I'm in a decent size city (few million in the metro) and my commute is still only about 20 minutes each way, and 30 minute lunch, so leaving at 8 would get me home by 5:30 easily, or leaving at 6:30 and getting home by 4. So there's the 90 minutes for a longer run right there differing from the post's estimate. Where I grew up it's a smaller town where my parents are both at work in 10 minutes or less.

If you're really running that much consistently you can probably run 8 minute miles, so 7 miles can happen in an hour no problem. Longer run on Sunday can put you at a 55 mile week without much sacrifice on time, just discipline to wake up from that warm bed and get after it. I'm currently doing near 100 mile weeks with 40 hour work week and still find my social life and occasional Netflix binge. No kids though (yet)... I imagine that would be the toughest thing on the training when they're at the younger age and rely on you for everything.

If you've got a job where you can work from home a couple days a week it's even better.

Sliding Scale wrote:

Live close to work--would I like to live in the country in an isolated haven, yes, but it is more important to me to spend less than 20 minutes (total) a day commuting. I live in a mid sized city.

Embrace cooking as a hobby--I did not like cooking at first, but fast food all the time is awful. Cooking can be a time sink or you can look at it as something you enjoy and as a useful and impressive skill you cultivate.

Never eat lunch out--if at all possible exercise during lunch, or shorten your work day with a working lunch (not applicable in all situations).

Personally, as long as I make enough to support my family (that is important) lifestyle is way more important than income.

Welcome to being an adult! but life should be enjoyable and not a grind.

Excellent post, cheers!