3AM: Bring the Car Seat
Getting us there on time
My wife and I were always underestimating how long it takes to get out the door for things like flights, dinner parties, and appointments. I built a little iOS app for us to work backward from a deadline: add your steps, set your deadline, and it does the math and tells you when to start each step. It’s called Ready Time.
I like being early, and she likes getting there right on time. Now we could both look at the plan, decide on which steps we need more/less time for, and both feel comfortable with the final plan.
We used Ready Time for small little things in our daily lives: haircuts, getting to dimsum with the family on time, doctor appointments. We were pregnant with our first kid, and it’s recommended to take a CPR class, so I used the app to make sure I got there in time; it included my morning routine: complete with my 15 minute poop scheduled to the minute in Ready Time.
The Call
My wife was taking a short trip to meet friends in Florida to enjoy a little trip before becoming a parent. It was 3AM when I got the call. I grabbed the phone from my nightstand and heard her voice:
My water broke. Bring the car seat.
I sat up from bed. It was go time.
I Can’t Do Math Right Now
The first thing I did after getting off the phone was to fire up Google Flights and look for the earliest one-way flights to Florida. I usually take my sweet time considering the best flight options and weighing prices. Nope. Not this time. Take my money.
The next flight was at 7AM. Boarding is 30 minutes before that. Then there’s TSA time. Parking. Driving: how long was it going to take? I still have to pack and take a detour to drop off Bozzy. When do I have to leave?
Math was not something that was going to happen right now. Executive functioning was just not something that was happening without a lot of concentration.
We’ve done this for flights before, but this time… this time it was a flight I can’t miss. I had to be there on time.
I opened up Ready Time and entered each step. The drive to the airport was going to take an hour. I’d have to check in bags too. After putting in all the steps it became clear: I wasn’t going to make the flight that I’d found–not with what I had left to do before leaving. SHIT.
No way I would have known the first flight wasn’t going to work on my own. Not with all the adrenaline going through me at that moment. My brain was just not in a clear enough state to trust myself to do math.
A small freak out. OK. Enough of that. I’ve gotta figure something out.
I searched again and found the next earliest flight: a flight that departed at 10AM and would get me there at 9PM after a layover in Dallas. I plugged it into the same plan on Ready Time with the new deadline, and the whole plan shifted so I wouldn’t have to re-enter all the details again.
YES! IT WORKED! Enough time. Good. This is going to work.
There’s an incredible feeling when you realize something you’ve poured so much time and energy into is going to play a pivotal role in a moment in your life.
I was prepped. I was pumped. I was ready to go.
Let’s do this.
The Scramble
I opened the closet, grabbed the biggest duffel bag I could find, and started stuffing it with anything I could try to remember from my still-unfinished hospital list: charger (the most important thing!), toiletries, underwear, shirts, pants, socks, what else? what else?
I called family to try to find someone to take care of our dog, Bozzy, hoping someone would wake up from the ring. Thankfully someone did, and I hurried over to drop him off and drove the best that I could with my body full of nerves and adrenaline.
Good thing she reminded me of the car seat: I don’t think I would have remembered it.
The Drive
After getting into the car, even though I was all nerves, it helped to know the full plan on getting to the airport. I’d get the alerts along the way to make sure I was staying on track. I didn’t have to keep it all in my head: there was enough going on in there as it raced around wondering if I’d forgotten anything or needed to do anything. Car seat. Car seat. Car seat. I got it. Good. Parking. Parking. Where am I going to park? How do I get to long-term parking?
I made it to the airport. I found long-term parking (after getting a bit lost, ugh). I had to take a photo of the car in the parking space. There was no way I was going to remember where I parked. I didn’t even know how long I was going to be gone.
I checked in, got through security: zipped through it all with time to spare. Knowing I was ahead in each step really helped calm my nerves.
I felt like I barely made it to the airport safely. Most to-be dads make the excited drive to the hospital with their pregnant wife in labor in the car doing that manic red-light-running dash. Well, I had to make my way across the country.
It was finally when I sat down at the gate that I could finally take a breath. Exhale.
Now it was out of my hands. I’d done all that I could do. The rest was for the pilot to get the plane to where I needed to go.
The Birth
I made the flight. The doctors were able to slow down the birth by a week so the baby could marinate a bit longer.
I was next to my wife for that time to support her leading up to the birth.
I was there for the birth.
I was the Drunk User
If you’ve ever heard me blabbing on about designing with users in mind, you’ll often hear me say:
The user is drunk.
Where I don’t necessarily think the user is actually drunk (though they can be), but that the user is usually so distracted and un-focused that we should essentially consider that they’re drunk. We need to design as if the user is actually drunk. If a drunk user can use it then anyone can use it.
I think most planning tools assume that your brain is working and fully functional when using it. They’re built for users who can be focused where their mind isn’t filled with a million things.
But the most useful and well-designed tools work even when your brain doesn’t work: when you’re in a panic, you’re grieving, running on adrenaline, or just exhausted (like a tired parent?).
Well, in my case, I was pretty much drunk.
And because I built Ready Time for drunk users, it was the perfect tool for getting me to the birth of my first child on time.
Be Ready
I built Ready Time as a backwards planning tool to help my wife and I get out the door on time. With each step you enter, you get alerts so you can be confident you have enough time to get there on time.
Maybe you’re a parent, someone with ADHD, or just don’t want to do the math whenever you have to be there on time. Maybe you’re someone who could use a little help with planning and your brain shuts down under stress (or your wife is currently in labor, OMG wtf are you reading this for?).
Give Ready Time a try.No subscriptions. No ads. No login.
