Now that I am enrolled in school for my MBA at the same time as I try to run the business, I have to be super organized about my daily (and weekly) schedule to get as much done as I possibly can.

I challenged myself to journal for a day this week and figure out where my time goes. I do a lot of driving around, which wastes time but is sometimes necessary. I do my homework in between other things. I have very little “me” time and scheduling it in helps me preserve it (personal training and wine class). I like to wake up early to give myself time to start my morning slowly and I rarely go to bed past 10 pm.

Sadly most of my days lately are jam-packed like the one below, even weekends. I am really looking forward to the semester being over, so I can chill out and relax the pace a bit in the summer. (Who am I kidding, I’ll just be working more at the shop instead!)

Monday 4/29/2019:

5:30am — Wake up and lounge in bed a bit. Check in order: text messages, emails, Instagram, read the news.

6 am — Breakfast downstairs (reheated leftovers) and get ready for the gym.

6:30-7:30 am — Personal training with Jake at Full Range Cross Fit (3x per week). We usually do a lot of weights but today was cardio-heavy. I am not a cross-fit person but I like working with Jake and he’s a cross-fitter, so we go there.

7:30 am — Drive back home to shower and look like a real human (change into normal clothes, do my hair). I dress very differently depending on what my day looks like: if I plan on being at the shop, it’s practical jeans, shirt and clogs. For school, I like to show a bit more style.

8 am — Stop by the shop to drop off some oat milk and say hello to the team.

8:15 am — Drive to Seven Stars on Hope st. Mobile hotspot from my phone and submit some overdue homework before a meeting.

8:30 am — Weekly meeting with Elton (FOH lead). We talk about scheduling, hiring, and feedback from last week. The shop has been crazy the last two months. I like to check in with the team and ask a lot of questions. Because I am out so much for school, I really depend on them to flag issues to me and keep my finger on the pulse.

9:15 am — Back to the shop for a quick standing meeting with Elton, my husband Darcy and a few other team members: tasks for the day for the team, errands and admin for my husband to help with, answer questions and make decisions with the team. Finish another piece of homework quickly and submit online.

10 am — Drive to Cambridge for school. Mondays I only take one 1.5 hour class in the afternoon. I like to come in a bit early, have lunch and settle into schoolwork before class. I use the driving time to think about summer plans and a few items I need to put pen to paper on.

11 am — Arrive in Cambridge. Fuel up the car and drive to Central Square for lunch. I picked Clover because I wanted something quick (tried the fried plantain sandwich) and wifi to bang out some admin tasks. I send a few marketing emails, look over our sales report from the week before and catch up on email.

1-2:30 pm – Head to class: Business Analysis Using Financial Statements, or BAUFS. I like the accounting and finance classes because numbers are my comfort zone. This professor in particular has a really engaging teaching style.

2:30 - 4 pm – Drive back to Providence. On days when I drive to school, I have to be super strategic with when I drive home to avoid traffic.

4 pm – Third coffee of the day back at Seven Stars on Hope st. Plug back into my mobile hotspot and start on this week’s homework for my Operations class. I have to run through a simulation called the Markdown Game, where you have to sell through an inventory of products at sale prices and the point is to maximize revenue. I spent about an hour just running through several scenarios and coming up with the strategy; I’ll have to block off time later to run through the actual scenarios on which my grade will be based.

6 pm – Wine class at Fortnight in Downtown. Darcy and I do this every Monday. I am there mostly for the drinking, Darcy is there more for the learning. I just don’t have any learning left in me after 30 hours a week of business school. The wines are interesting and now I sound marginally more educated as a wine drinker.

7:30 pm – Quick dinner at Bucktown. We eat oysters and fried chicken. High/low is my happy spot!

8:00 pm – Record podcast with JP and Steve from ycdidi at Steve’s apartment. It’s my first time ever being on a podcast and I am self-conscious about my raspy, high-pitched voice. The conversation was fun, they had a lot of questions about me and not so much the business, which was refreshing and engaging. I enjoy turning myself off from “Rebelle mode.” I maybe spoke too freely and candidly — I can’t wait to see how it gets edited into an episode!

10:00 pm – Back home and straight to bed. Catch up on emails, evening news and Instagram from bed.

10:45 pm – Lights out. Good night!