What is a typical work day like for you? Mine is generally as follows: 4:30- Get up, read paper, Check in @ lawnsite, read/send email. Eat breakfast. 5:30- Start on paperwork, billing, A/P, quotations, tax forms... 6:30- Head for shop, do any last minute adjustments, load material for day, mix chemicals, fuel all equipment... 7:30- Arrive at first jobsite. (First job is generally a commercial, vacant house, or a job that is quiet.) 7:30-11:00- Continue on the route, completing jobs. 11:30-11:45- Lunch. 11:45-17:30/18:30- Finish the days jobs. 17:30/18:30 Back @ shop, dump debris@ shop, do any major repairs, Start getting things in motion for next day. 19:00- Head home, Shower, Dinner 20:00 Check back in @ Lawnsite, return any phone calls. 21:00 Bedtime.
How do you get up at 4:30!?!? I'm usually just going to bed then! My day usually starts at 7:30 so i stumble out of bed around 7:15 and then we meet at the shop at 7:30 and start working. Have lunch whenever, and usually get done between 6:30 and 8:30
LGG- I get up @ 4:30 because I go to bed @ 21:00 or so. How do you stay up till 4:30? How can you get out of bed, dressed, breakfast, and to the shop in 15 minutes? There is nothing like getting up early. Try it sometime.
No offense jaclawn but it sounds like you need a life. Up at 4:30 in bed by 9:00 work all day and sleep it sounds like. I go to be at midnight and wake up at 8 am. I am not a morning person at all and getting up for me is the hardest part. I start mowing around 9am I work till about 6:30 or 7:30 then have the rest of the night free. no way I could ever go to bed at 9pm sorry
I can remember when I used to party till 3 or 4 in the morning and then head to work @ 7 and I hated every minute of the morning!!! Ever since I joined the military, I got forced to appreciate the early morning rises. (Get your mind out of the gutter guys, thats not what I mean!) I actually enjoy it now, and If I'm up for an hour or 2 relaxing before work, it really helps. I feel refreshed and alive by the time I start work, and I runcircles around the ones that did the $hit, shave, and shower thing in 15 minutes! JACLAWN - Sounds like your pretty dedicated to your business, which is good but I hope if you have a family you get to spend enough time with them. Don't forget theres a lot of things that come first in life before a profit!!
Excellent, Guido, well said. My day starts at 6 AM (I am a morning person ). I rise, eat breakfast, check Lawnsite/e-mail, and get ready for work. My shop is at home, so I have to load the trailer before leaving. We leave the house between 7:30-8:00 and my first stop is to drop the wife at work. I then do bank deposits and drop mail before heading to my first job. I usually rev the machines up by 8:15. On a typical day, I cut lawns from that time until 5:00, when I go to pick up the wife from work. Somewhere along the way I wolf down one of my wife's delicious homemade sandwiches in the truck between lawns. Generally, I don't remember doing it. One or two days a week, I'll take break at 11:45 and pick up the wife for lunch. On those days I'm generally away from work from that time to 13:15. Those much needed breaks are life-savers, but I couldn't get away with that everyday. We usually pull back in between 17:15-17:30 and have dinner. After dinner, I usually grab a cold MGD and a cigarette (generally, I smoke one/day) and head out to unload the trailer and do adjustments for the next day. I'm generally back inside my 19:00 where I get to work on paperwork, scheduling, researching, and checking in at Lawnsite. Then, I grab a shower and, nowadays, put in an hour of study for my pesticide exam between 20:00 and 21:00. I spend 21:00 to 23:00 with the wife, do some reading and get to bed by 23:00-23:30. Except Wednesday nights, when we bowl. I think a full mix of work time, fun time, and family time is essential. Good thread, jac, this is fun! -TGC
Old schedule: Up at 6,help getting kids to caregiver. mow 7:45 to 2:30 pm, 3:00-11:30 work full time job,12:30 home and sleep. Did for 3.5 years New schedule Up at 6, help with kids,mow etc. until 5:00, home and happy .
Hey guys i'm still young! I got to have a life sometime. Jaclawn- I can get to work by 7:30 cause I roll out of bed get dressed and stuff in about 10 minuts. My shop is only a block away from my house so it takes me like 30 seconds to get there. For breakfast i just grab something somewhere near where working and eat in the truck or on the job. I tried getting up earlya couple times and I was wasted by 9:00am.(i even went to bed early that night) I don't like it, dosn't work for me. mabey i'll try agian sometime though. I don't understand how you can go to bed at 9:00 every night, my night is just starting at 9:00 Guido- for some reason mornings arn't that bad for me. I just drink a couple pepsi's and I'm fine.
