Part 2: Three Jobs, One Life: Rethinking Work, Identity, and What Matters
Life at a Glance
This is the Part 2 of a four-part series, loosely titled “Life at a Glance,” that unpacks how my mornings work, what my workdays look like, how afternoons and evenings unfold, and the things I’m trying to tidy up in 2026. The goal of the series is to help you reflect on your own routines and consider how you might tidy things up. Here is Part 1: I Deleted This Post From Instagram. Here’s Part of What I Was Trying to Say.
Part 2 is focused on my “workdays”:
There are three work identities I navigate every day.
First, my work inside the home as a dad: parenting, cooking, cleaning, caring for our home, and managing the logistics of life.
Second, my work as a New York City public school teacher.
And third, my work as “Tidy Dad.”
I consider all of these identities “work” because each are activities that require mental or physical effort to achieve a purpose.
I’m deeply passionate about each of these roles. I have a strong vested interest in all three. They shape how I spend my time, how I make decisions, how I engage with the world, and how I see myself.
The most important job I have is being a dad. All other work gets tidied around that priority.
Let’s unpack my relationship with all three.
My Work as Dad
Nearly eleven years ago, my head and my heart were completely rewired when I became a dad. I remember holding my oldest daughter for the very first time and feeling the enormous weight of caring for this tiny child.
After she was born, I didn’t return to the classroom until the following school year. I was the first man at my school to take full paternity leave. I spent May, June, July, and August at home with her and with my wife, Emily.
I look back on that time as a remarkable gift. Together, Emily and I learned how to care for our new baby. We were both responsible. We were both capable. We made decisions together. We were both exhausted, and binge watched so many shows during nighttime feedings. In no small way, those four months changed the trajectory of our marriage.
We became a team. We learned how to manage parenting, cooking, cleaning, caring for our home, and the endless logistics of life together.
That mindset still guides us today.
My mornings and my after-school evenings are devoted to my children. And I teach at the same school where my children attend. Three children is a lot. Managing our apartment and cottage is a lot. Navigating the highs and lows of parenting is a lot. It’s an incredible work load.
When Emily and I started designating tasks inside and outside the home as work, it was incredibly helpful. Whether you’re grabbing groceries or sitting in a meeting with a supervisor, it’s work. The goal isn’t to split things perfectly 50/50. The goal is to name the work, talk honestly about the tasks we enjoy and the ones we don’t, and figure out how to tackle the seemingly never-ending to-do list together.
There are only twenty-four hours in a day. As we’ve simplified routines and built systems that work for our family, the responsibilities have started to feel a bit more manageable. Plus I have ruthlessly tidied up my professional life as a teacher. I’ve learned that when things at home feel difficult, it’s often because something is out of balance with my other two work identities.
My Work as Teacher
Last April, I published a four-part series called Tidy Up My Life: 2.0. It was the first series I chose to place behind a paywall. It centered on my work life at my former school. I worked there for 13 years, a number some might call unlucky. Two years ago, I made the decision to leave. It wasn’t just a career pivot. It was a necessary exit.
Here are links to those four articles: Part 1: The Devil Wears a Necktie, Part 2: Sorting with the Enemy, Part 3: Receipts, Proof, Timeline, Screenshots, and Part 4: The Traitorous Exit.
Like last year’s series, the rest of this story will also be behind the paywall, because it’s more personal, and I’ve learned not everything needs to live on the public feed.
