Skip to content
Written on My typical day

My typical day

How my daily routine stacks up.

A bunch of people over on Twitter sharted sharing their posts about their typical days. Colin Devroe was the one who started it. I've always wanted to add a daily-routine page on this website so I thought it was nice to chime in.

My schedule is pretty consistent and I like the pattern I developed over time. I like accomplishing at least one or two 'big things' each day. But, I also listen to how I'm feeling and adjust my plans accordingly so the schedule below isn't set in stone. Without further ado here is mine.


7:00-8:00

On most days, I wake up anywhere in this time slot. My alarm defaults to 7:00 but I snooze so sometimes I go straight out of bed, on other days I like to lay down for a little bit longer. I get up and make a good quality cup of coffee. I don't eat breakfast. While sipping on my coffee I like to listen to a podcast, read some articles, do a quick Oak meditation session or pick up my book to read. I’ll let my mind wander during the first hour of wake-up. No doomscrolling, no news.

8:00-9:00

When the caffeine kicks in the next hour is spent doing some stretching with some gym equipment or a small walk around the house and getting myself dressed and ready for the day. During this time I also like to do some cleaning around the house. Make the bed, take out the trash, clean up the office, etc. I can't work when things are cluttered. During the pandemic, I'm able to do this. Otherwise, this time is spent commuting to Amsterdam by train.

9:00-12:00

I do at least 3 hours of focused time. I am very protective of these hours when scheduling meetings. I don't open up e-mail, I don't respond to messages. This is 3 hours of deep work. I focus on doing my Highlight for the day that I set in Notion the day before. But on most days this time is spent teaching students and giving lectures.

12:00-13:00

Lunch. I get away from the computer and sit in the kitchen. I either do some light reading like browsing Twitter or again reading articles. I'll sometimes watch a Youtube video. I like to spend some time making unique lunches. I enjoy cooking and lunch is a great opportunity to be a little more creative and try out quick recipes instead of eating a plain ol' sandwich.

13:00-16:00

Another three hours of very focused work. No e-mail, no messages. I continue working on my Highlights or any high priority tasks that need to be finished. At around 15:00 I'll often have a quick break to grab some fruit. But again on most days this teaching students and giving lectures.

16:00-17:00

If it's a 'quiet' day I'll either continue working on priority tasks but otherwise at the end of the day I plan my meetings (catch-ups, 1:1's), do some more administrative (shallow work), and respond to e-mail and messages. All communication has flowed into my inbox and I can batch process most of these things in one clean sweep.

17:00-17:30

Daily review time. I have a Notion board with a list of things I go through. Like reviewing my calendar for tomorrow, checking my tasks, writing in my journal, reading feedbin, and any other social media stuff.

17:30-18:30

Dinner time. Cooking, doing the dishes, the usual. I try to make my dinners device-less but it's very tempting to fire up the television and watch a series.

18:30-20:00

Another small focused sprint that I usually spend working on personal projects or more physical DIY projects. Coding and designing work on any of my digital products or open-source projects.

20:00-20:30

Teatime and a cookie.

20:30-22:00

Another small sprint to work on personal projects. But not as intense as the first sprint. This is where I do most of my writing, work on my personal website or do some learning (online course for example). I allow myself to work on whatever I feel like working on.

22:00-23:00(ish)

Wind-down time. It usually consists of me reading a little bit and then watching a series. Or this hour is spend playing a video-game on my console. It takes me a long time to fall asleep so I like to wind-down (lay in bed) first and usually fall asleep around ~23:15.


My days consist of around ~6 hours of actual working hours. That's quite reasonable and I'm very hyperfocused during those hours which is a skill I very much glad I developed over the couple of years.

The other ~3 hours in the evening are me working on personal projects, products, or writing. These are very flexible. Some days I skip it altogether and hop on the couch or play a video game. I like these sprints in the evening so I always make some time in my day for play and exploration. Knowing that my 'important' work is finished relieves a lot of stress for me.

Interested in how I work? I've written a whole user guide about myself on how I communicate and work with other people.

*Some sidenotes:

Danny de Vries