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🔮 3 Ways to See the Future as Dads

🔮 3 Ways to See the Future as Dads

Future you thanks you for reading

Michael Hatfield
September 08, 2024

Is your calendar coming at you

It’s Coming for You

Halloween. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Are they “coming up” or are they “already here”? Starbucks is probably already selling you a Spring Pink Drink made with their ‘25 roast 🤷.

Today the Appairent newsletter is giving you the gift of freedom, peace of mind and time savings…for future-self. I’m convinced at home and at work we look “the next week” out. And there’s value in that.

Multiply the impact: Forward this newsletter to 3 busy dad friends that are like you. I’d love to help more dads with DIY tips, or by having them subscribe for Appairent’s proactive virtual assistance.

Which one is you and which is your family calendar?

Calendar Calculus

But life comes at us, right? You, me, your spouse. G.d. “bring this to class”; this calendar for school; this calendar for the ball team; some weekend stuff on the docket. I LOVE doing stuff with my family, but the calendar mounts you like a bull on a heifer.

To take back control, we have to work with what we know and go out a bit further into the future, where it’s not already settled for us:

We DO have a pretty clear kids school/sports/extracurric’s decently well advance.
We CAN anticipate decently which days/nights are taken 30ish days in advance
We DON’T usually wield that information as power to intentionally plan things YOU want to have happen on the calendar.

At work you or your team likely plans 1-2 months/quarters in advance. Bring the same discipline to planning for your partner, parent and personal roles.

Do this 👇️ with me now (or smack a 30 min block on your cal to do t if you’re on the go now) to make sure the sh*t that makes you whole is on your calendar, too.

Practical Future Scheduling for Dad

Partner

Reach 6 to 8 weeks out. There’s gotta be a SOME 2-3 hour block you can be w/o kids and do something. If you look week by week you’re always going to be victim to the calendar that’s already set. Ideas:

Pick your favorite go-to restaurant you haven’t made it to in a while if you can head out.
You can still score some points if you have to stay in. Here’s some ideas to get you started.

Person

Schedule one boy's night out in the next 4 weeks.

Pick a post-bedtime slot, like a Thursday at 8:30 PM. Head to the nearest pub for a couple of beers. One late night won't hurt, but it'll fill your tank.

Spontaneous hangs are great, but a set date gives you something to anticipate.

Simple steps:

Choose a date
Send it to your buddies
Adjust if needed, then lock it in

Can't align schedules perfectly? No worries. Just get it on the calendar.

Parent

Here, you go with the flow, and just blend into the existing schedule in the next 2-3 weeks. Having a plan, a place and a time makes it less “let’s get pizza b/c I have nothing ready” to “this is going to be family time that’s fun”. The 180 mind shift will make you pumped to do it, not forced to do it.

Taking Time Back

If you’ve been following along and taking DIY action you should notice you’re roughly accomplishing doing something intentional in each of these categories on a monthly basis. And that is awesome b/c we both know: a month flies by again and again w/o a plan…

You can see the future when you’re the one that plans the future. Keep coming back to this every month or so and you’ll be doing life, it won’t be doing you.

🍻

Imagine having an extra set of hands to manage this home ‘work’.
That's Appairent.
Join all our other dads now to reclaim your time without the stress.
It’s less than the cost of a damn pizza!