A Day in the Life of an Entrepreneur
Recent Graduate of UW Mech Eng, Entrepreneur and CTO/Co-Founder of Boogaloo Bunks, Sports Aficionado, Amateur Chef, Totally Exhausted
So I wrote a very similar article about 6 months ago to outline what my average life looked like in one of my last terms of university. It was crazy. Some people told me that it must have been a tough day, but the funny thing was, that day was about average. I had much worse, and much better. I guess you have to take everything with a grain of salt (and maybe a shot of tequila too).
In response, I am writing another one to outline what my day actually looks like most days. Keep in mind that the life of an entrepreneur can be described as “unpredictable” at best, and there really are no two days alike. Some days I sit in my room in my pajamas for 16 hours sourcing parts and researching adhesives. Some days I spent 12 hours at the Foundry (the shared workspace we are in) cutting 2x4s to build a prototype. Some days I sleep until noon, write articles like this one, go for a run when I feel like, and drink way too much coffee.
I should also note that I still read a lot of “What Successful People Do Before ____ (insert some ungodly hour)” blog posts, and recommend you do too. They shouldn’t be taken as a holy document — ie. don’t follow them to the letter — but understand that is the level of hustle it takes to be that successful.
I still recommend reading the following:
- The Morning Routines of 13 Ambitious Millennial Women
- 5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8am
- Successful People Who Wake Up Really Early
- Things Successful People Do Before Breakfast
- The Power of Mornings: Why Successful Entrepreneurs Get Up Early
- The Morning Routines of 12 Women Leaders
- Yes, You Can Sleep In and Still Be Successful
- Ten More Reasons You Should Quit Your Job and Work For Yourself
- How I Built A Startup While Traveling to 20 Countries
And also some new ones:
- Why Night Owls are Cleverer and Richer than People Who Get Up Early
- The Morning Routines of The Most Successful People
- When Do The Best Entrepreneurs Get Up?
- The Power of Mornings: Why Successful Entrepreneurs Get Up Early
And to reiterate from my previous article:
- some people get up early, and are successful
- some people get up late, and are successful
- some people aren’t successful
- some people aren’t successful yet
So keep an open mind on this.
But most days are similar to the one I list below.
Here we go:
A Day in the Life of Brendan: 6 Months Later
6am: Alarm goes off for the first time — usually ignore this.
6:30am: Alarm goes off for the second time — actually get up. Put on running shoes, run down to the Aud, do a round of the property, sometimes do wind-sprints on the track around the field, head home (3km total, usually)
7:00am: Stretch, catch my breath, quick yoga poses, regret that my toes are so far away,
7:15am: 3 x 20 push-ups, 3 x 3s x 10 Torture Twists, usually 3 x 25–30 KB swings but I’m missing my Kettlebell currently, 3 x 20 air squats, stretch
7:30–7:45am: Power shower, protein powder, put coffee on
8:00am: Meditate for 15 minutes, coffee’s ready, check emails — respond if necessary, make bed
8:30am: Drink coffee, catch up on emails, social media, brief updates
9am: Actual breakfast if I haven’t started already — usually 3-egg omelet with mushrooms — gather lunch
9:30am: Read something. Write something. Usually on Medium. Just like this.
10am: Head into the office (#startuplyfe #cangoinwheneverIwant) work til lunch
1pm: Eat lunch — usually I bring lunch, sometimes my co-founder and I head to Queen Street Cafe for cheap and delicious wraps — best in Kitchener!
1:30pm: Back to work. Changes every day — no predictable schedule here.
7pm: Usually head home around here to grab dinner, earlier if it’s my night to cook, but generally I try to aim for 7–7:30pm to get home.
7:30pm: Eat dinner, do dishes, clean up room
8pm: Do work from home, anything that can’t be done at the Foundry, otherwise head back to the office to finish up some stuff before calling it a day
10pm: Head home or close the laptop, read for half an hour or hang with the roommates.
11pm: Organize work for tomorrow, write in digital gratefulness journal and relationship journal if it’s my turn, crank some evening tunes
11:30pm: Evening wind-down routine — camomile tea, brush teeth, supplements if needed, honey and apple vinegar water, more stretching, more reading, avoid all technology if possible.
12pm: Bed
So there’s your updated version of my day! They change literally daily, and no two days are alike, but keeping some semblance of routine is critical for success, in my humble opinion.
I strongly recommend the morning and evening routines, probably even more so on the evening routine side — getting a good night sleep is everything when you are hustling like a boss. And as an entrepreneur, you’re always hustling.
If you want more articles like this, hit recommend and follow below! Check out my other blog as well here.
Cheers,
-Brendan
