When I came in to work today, I was on a secret mission, which made everything I did buzz with enthusiasm. The mission being – my plan, this blog, and creating my lifestyle for FIRE. I even created habits at work to help me get things done in a more fun way. There was a task I forgot to do, so I used my 15-minute rotation trick to get started on it.  The trick is to do a task for only 15 minutes and then switch to something more fun. Then repeat.

Life as a teacher is always filled with things to do. I work as a special education teacher with students with moderate-to-severe disabilities. When I’m not lesson planning, grading, responding to the latest email or a bureaucratic task assigned by admin, I’m doing some actual teaching. There are things due all the time even if the due date is far away. I take the time to tackle these far away deadlines because things tend to pile up when you least want them to. I spend some of my free time tackling future tasks to save the” future me” stress and frustration, such as assessments for Individual Education Plans or IEPs. 

Here’s what my typical workday looks like:

6:00	Wake-up
6:15	Journal & drink water
6:30	Morning weights/Exercise
7:00	Green smoothie or regular breakfast
7:30	Out of the house
8:00	Get to work half-hour earlier to prep for the day
8:30	Student’s Breakfast in the Classroom
8:40	CNN 10 while I take roll and check-in with everyone
8:50	Meditation with Inner Explorer
9:00	Official Alternate Curriculum Lesson
9:30	Student do independent work
10:00	Math Lesson or I work with students one-to-one
10:46	My Break
11:06	The strand block (Mock store/Retail)
1:02	Lunch with other teachers
1:32	Elective (next year: Fiancial Literacy)
2:30	Conference/Planning Period
3:30	Homeroom
3:45	Sign out/drive home
5:00	Dinner
5:30	After dinner walk
6:30	Practice music/Read/Call a friend
7:30	Fave TV show/Event
9:00	In bed, reading a paper book to rest my eyes
10:00	Asleep

After work hours allow me to incorporate some of the things I enjoy from my FIRE lifestyle like time to write, exercise, cook, see friends, and attend events I’m interested in. Plus, there is the undeniable perk of the teaching profession – summer, winter, and spring breaks. There are sabbaticals built into the job if I choose to take them. Sure, it doesn’t come close to the 5-hour work week that the early retirement extreme guy suggests, but I actually do like being busy. It would be nice to control how often and how long I show up to work, but that’s a non-negotiable of this job. 

My typical weekend looks like this:

7:00	Wake-up
7:15	Journal & drink water
8:00	Morning weights/Exercise/Walk
9:00	Green smoothie or regular breakfast
9:30	Go on a drive/ FI event/ Hike
12:00	Lunch
12:30	Coffee shop to write, blog, & read
2:30	Nap
3:00	Check in/Journal/Meditate
4:00	Walk or Meet with a Friend
5:00	Dinner
6:00	Practice music/Read/Date
7:30	Movie/Show/Event
10:00	In bed, reading a paper book to rest my eyes
11:00	Asleep

As you can see, I include my after FI activities into my typical weekend and evenings, which consist of writing, reading, practicing music, seeing friends, taking drives, going on hikes, attending events or shows. The main differences between a workday and a weekend are waking up an hour earlier and going to sleep an hour later, taking drives and going to coffee shops. Thankfully, the activities I’m most drawn to don’t cost too much more money. Sure, driving around costs more in gas and five to ten dollars more on coffee shops, depending if I go both days of the weekend. However, these expenditures won’t kill my bank in retirement. In fact, I’m accounting for an additional $500 in my FI number for travel a month, which will include these extra expenses, such as drives and coffee shops. I will still try to make my own sandwiches for lunch for the drives and try to come home for dinner unless I have a date or meetings with friends. 

Now, with the summer coming and I’m not going to be teaching summer school, I plan to be living my post FI lifestyle, which will look very similar to my weekends. In addition, I have a few short trips planned, including a campFI trip to Colorado Springs. I’m also going to be adding more focus and consistency to my blog writing over the summer. 

What does your workday vs weekend schedule look like? Will your post FI life look much different from your life now?