34 out of 56 years on Earth, I have lived my 24 hrs in two different ways every week. Monday through Friday was one schedule and Saturday to Sunday were very different. But, which schedule was better, worse or did it even matter?

As an educator, 24 hours in a day was very important because I needed to plan my day accordingly and accomplish all I could in order to be ready for the next day. I developed a routine for everyday of the week. For instance, starting with Sunday night and ending on Friday night. My routine has definitely been adjusted in my 34 years. I got married. I became a father to 2 boys. I switched work environments, teaching at 3 different high schools. Sometimes I get asked “what’s so important about 24 hours?”

Let me tell you why 24 hours is so important. (Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, what’s wrong with this guy/girl? Who cares about what’s important about 24 hours in a day? Why am I even thinking about 24 hours in a day? If you are interested in Math or being/is a Math teacher, then this story is right up your alley.)I have worked hard in educating my students in all Math subjects on the high school level. One of the great projects I always did with my Geometry class, was the 24 hour circle. I incorporated Central Angles, arc Length, area of a sector- sorry, got off on a tangent (pun intended for any Math geeks reading this story). And on the high school level there are so many factors that come into play that affect your daily life. In writing this short story, I am going to keep things as close to whole numbers as possible. If you can understand what 24 hours in a day looks like, then maybe you can adjust your own 24 hours to your specific needs, and be very successful in doing so. I guess I should have started this whole story off by saying, “How can you maximize your potential in 24 hours?”

While growing up, sleep is very important. As you get older, you do not need the same amount like when you were younger. However, it helps to stay on schedule to maximize your success. I will start with putting 2 analog clocks next to each other to explain midnight to noon and noon to midnight.  LIFE CAN BE ANY KIND OF STORY and I’m hoping with a little tweak, to your 24 hours, your story will be amazing.

Think, as you look at the circles (Look at cover photo), of putting the numbers of a clock around the circle. Make 2 clocks- this is how you will see the importance of school, sleep, eating, extra time and anything else that you will be able to use to maximize your time and success from it.( I always start the lesson off with the example of my 24 hour day. At this point in my life, it’s much different than 30 years ago.)

My story is nothing special but when I look at my 24 hours, I realize that my success was built from my high school 24 hour schedule. I learned valuable lessons involving budgeting time, completing small tasks first, eating well and sleeping well. What do you do with your time?

8 hrs of sleep; 10pm to 6 am. If you make it 7(11 to 6), that will work as well. I am using what worked for me and trying to show students how I became successful. I know times have changed and I may be a curmudgeon(SAT word for my English people) now but successful people all have many things in common. If you got 8 hours of sleep every night, when you were younger, then 7 hours probably makes sense in high school. The cell phone has completely changed the sleep patterns of 2 going on 3 generations(another part of my story-too long for this one).

I think the time getting ready for school and then going to school is usually 1 hour, which I often classify as miscellaneous. Schooltime is 7 hours. After school is the time that varies greatly with each individual. My time was spent in athletics which took up 3 hours, at school. So 10 of my 24 hours in a day was spent at school, 5 days a week(it’s more like an average but for Geometry purposes I went with it). 41.7% of my day was spent at school. 29.2% of my days were spent sleeping. Leaving me with 29.1% left to eat, shower, do homework and relax. A little more than half of my day was spent at home, leaving me the opportunity to take advantage of the comfort of my home. I was lucky to have what I needed all the time.

My story is somewhat plain and simple but the 24 hours in a day is very important to me. This story is just a sample of the book I am thinking about writing. Especially, since my time as an educator is winding down. Getting students to focus on their 24 hours and set a goal of 7 hours of sleep every 24 hours. That is what I hope to accomplish with my book and this story is just a sampling of that. See below as I list the 24 hours of my day during my highschool career.

Midnight-Noon Noon- Midnight

12-6: sleep                                                                                        Noon-2pm: school

6-7: get ready for school, breakfast, ride to school 2-5 pm: practice (Fb, Bkb, B)

7-12pm: school 5-6: clean up/ ride home

6-11: shower,eat,hw, tv

11-12am: sleep

All of this would be combined and I would fit it into a pie graph as an example for my students. You would be amazed at how students do not realize how much time they actually have to get things done on their time. I attended a private hs. And it was a 30 min ride to and from school each day. 1/24 of my day was spent traveling in a bus to school and car home.

I hope you enjoyed the quick read. What does your 24 hours look like?