What is your typical day like? I sometimes think people think a blogger’s life is very glamorous and exciting (and maybe mine was a little more glamorous, pre-pandemic in New York – I had so many events and dinners and parties and was always running around, going to meetings and events, etc!). The truth is, my schedule is pretty ordinary. I spend most days at my computer and there is a ton of unglamorous stuff unworthy of sharing (especially right now during tax season). The only thing that is all that different from a “regular” job is that I have a little more control over my schedule. I love being able to structure my day in a way that works best for me. I like putting meetings and harder tasks in the afternoons to have my mornings free, and I love working out mid-day. Otherwise, it’s pretty regular!
The first half of my day is pretty much always the same. I am not a morning person so (if I can avoid it) I will rarely do in person meetings, shoots, or recordings until the afternoon. I really thrive on having this chunk of time (and my food / workout routine too – it sets me up for a healthier day ahead!).
A Day in the Life
7:30am-7:45am
Wake up.
8am-8:30
Make coffee, feed cat, put on workout clothes, do verrrrry basic skincare (water, moisturizer) do my Wordle. Promote the day’s blog post on Instagram stories.
8:30-9:30am
Community management. Reply to reader emails and blog comments, answer DMs, moderate Facebook group (letting new people in, approving anonymous posts, chatting with readers). I tend to do this throughout the day too but have found I get more done during the rest of the day when I allocate this one hour to replying to as much as I can.
9:30am – 11am
Menial tasks for the day. I try do the low-thought stuff in the mornings. This could be sizing and uploading images, it could be putting finishing touches on my newsletter, it could be accounting stuff, working on a sponsored post draft and sending that off, some proofreading or mayyyybe writing (generally I prefer writing in the afternoon or evening). But also: sending off shopping links to my graphic designer or video footage to my editor.
11am
Work out. I love a mid-day work out and consider this one of the best parts of working for myself. In the morning, I have a nice chunk of time to accomplish things and put out any fires, and then I have the whole afternoon to really settle into work and more creative projects. When I work out in the morning I dread it, when I save it to the end of the day I make excuses… 11am works perfectly for me.
noon
Eat lunch, chat with my boyfriend (his day is just kicking in over on the west coast) shower, full skincare, makeup (if I’m shooting something, otherwise I skip it).
12:45 – 5
My afternoons really vary but this is when I do more creative work. Right now, one of those afternoons is usually a podcasting afternoon and one is a shooting afternoon. Of course I wind up doing other things (podcasting takes about two hours plus prep time, my shoots are 1-2 hours but require a couple hours of prep work (setting up any props, making myself and my home presentable, steaming clothes, ETC). And a few days a week it is recording self-shot video at home (upcoming Instagram story ads and now reels). My favorite afternoons are when I get to sit and write my blog posts and email newsletter. I’m looking forward to having the free day when I am no longer podcasting. I’d like to do more writing.
5-7pm
If I don’t have a family dinner (they’re really cramping my work day lol), I love to use this time to have a light dinner or snack, write and reply to emails. Afterward I’ll either put on a movie or TV or go out with friends.
7:30-9pm
If I do have family dinner, this is when I come home and finish writing… family dinner starts at 4:30 so there is usually still work to do when I get home.
9pm onward
I really try not to do any work in here. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn’t. If it is a normal week (minimal events, no travel), I am definitely not working… I’m probably out with friends or reading at home. If I have an event during the day or a trip coming up and have to get ahead, I’ll often work til 11 or 12. I don’t mind this, I love my job and I am a night person so tend to feel my most creative then. But I am trying to have better work/life boundaries!
11pm/midnight
Bed. I am happiest when I have a full hour to read before bed. Doesn’t always happen but when it does, I am so happy.
Tell me about your workday in the comments!
photo by Laura Saur.
I always love reading Day in the Life posts, especially for those who work for themselves like you do. It sounds like you have such a good routine and workflow, while still switching some things up a little day-to-day.
xoxo A
http://www.southernbelleintraining.com
glad you enjoyed it!
It’s so interesting to me how different we all are when it comes to sleep/productivity preferences! I love being awake very early and like to be winding down for bed around 8 or 9, ideally asleep by 10 (and that’s late for me). This works for me because I am a teacher, so I am done with work at 3:30 every day. I always joke that I expire at 2pm, sometimes even earlier… my brain does not function as well in the afternoon and I am just ready to relax! In college, I loved getting to the library super early so that my mind could be distraction-free as I worked on my most complex papers and readings. I was glad to finally put a reasoning to it when I learned about sleep chronotypes. I am definitely close to a lion – early bird. Here’s a good article I found about sleep chronotypes: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/chronotypes
Right! I totally agree. I am useless in the morning but at 2pm my brain turns on and I’m my most productive and creative. Looking froward to reading that article!
Being able to make your own schedule does sound nice! My day typically looks like:
6:15 – wake up, walk dog, breakfast, get ready
7:00 – leave for work
7:30-5 (ish, it can vary depending on the day) – work (in office!)
Then I realized I don’t have a “normal” evening routine – I usually do something different after work depending on the day, cook dinner, workout/read/watch tv/do errands/etc (that is either or, not all of the above!)
10 pm – bedtime, which I’m usually pretty consistent with since I love to sleep!
Thank you for sharing! I love to sleep too 🙂
These posts are super fun—- it reminds me of what’s in my bag videos like why am I so curious about everyone’s schedule and purse contents?!
620am wake up.
Drive 13min to work (eat breakfast in car), park 0.4mi away- walk to actual work building.
Get report, start shift, someday I will get a 15min AM break when I know more of what I am doing, eat at 2pm (ideally! depends on day). Give report at 6:45-7pm ish. Hopefully leave before 8pm.
Eat dinner then pack lunch for next day of work.
Read in bed longer than intended, go to sleep at 10 or so. Repeat 3x/week, get progressively more tired and try to go to bed earlier on each consecutive shift but probably fail.
My dream self bikes to work and back so I get a workout in that way… but biking back after 12.5 hr shift seems AWFUL/dangerous since it’s dark out lol. I would have to get up at 5:45am to bike there vs. 6:20., 45min ride or so until I get speedier.
In a recent book I read, it said that people who make average income but control their own schedule are happier than the richest person who has a rigid one. I felt that hard- I’ve never not gotten the exact shifts I want and I’m not looking forward to getting plugged in to fill calendar holes. I only plan to 3 12’s or 4 10’s for my full career till age 45 or so/ go PRN to pickup to whatever desired hours I need. I imagine a lot of dread if I had to go to a physical office 5 day a week job but that’s only because I’ve never had one. I think the people you work with make the biggest diff/ having time off when people you love do too, otherwise it’s lonely (I like going places that aren’t crowded ie Sat grocery store I can go daytime on Tuesday- – but if I worked every weekend the only time my spouse was off I would be unhappy. This is why weekend contracts paying 30-35% more hourly [9-10.5 more per hour] are necessary at hospitals. I’ll pass, it’s also way more dangerous to get sick on a weekend/ in July.)
I would agree with that! Feeling like I have control over my schedule is probably the number one perk of my job. Thanks for sharing yours!
Katie, it sounds like you work in healthcare. Yay! I do too. I love having the “freedom” to pick my own schedule but man, the days are long!
Thank you so much for sharing!
I am also going to need a credit on those gorgeous emerald shoes in your pic 🙂
Oh thank you! They are Manolo Blahnik. I have had them since 2014, but they still make them… the Hangisi pump! https://shopstyle.it/l/bFBLE
I’m the psycho friend that is ready to run a marathon 2 seconds after I open my eyes (naturally!) at 5:30am! This is when I tend to do menial chores, clean the kitchen from the night before, tidy up, ect. I have to be aware that most people are not wired this early, so I sit and eagerly wait to do annoying things…the leaf blower, vacuum, ect until 8am.
The downside is, I am DONE by 8pm. Even in my twenties, we’d all be out and my body would just stop working at 8. Now, I will have an espresso with dinner if anyone needs me after that time 🙂
I am so jealous of your morning person ways! I was making progress last year but then I met my boyfriend and he lives on the west coast so I stay up late talking to him.
I’m curious to know if (and what) you eat breakfast. That’s what gets me out of bed in the mornings–even if it’s just a banana.
Haha. I don’t eat much right away. Coffee, maybe green juice if I’ve made it. An hour before my workout (usually 10) I have a banana. And then after my workout (usually 12) I have a big breakfast/lunch with at least 20 grams of protein. Sometimes its a Daves Killer Bread bagel w/cottage cheese, other times it is 3 eggs and toast, other times, a container of greek yogurt + some fruit!
Omg for some reason I love nothing more than reading about people’s routines, so thank you for sharing! I think it’s so interesting how people are most “on” at completely different times of day. Mine is pretty straightforward:
~6:45am-7:15am: snooze alarms/turn off multiple alarms and finally drag myself out of bed at 7:15. (Once I’m up, I’m up but I find getting out of bed SO hard no matter what time I wake up. It’s so harsh to me!)
7:15am-8:15am: skincare, makeup, get dressed, drink coffee, maybe scroll tiktok for 15 min then out the door to school.
8:30am-5ish: school! (i’m in law school and it’s weirdly like being back on a high school schedule!)
5:30ish: workout
7ish: shower, make dinner, clean up, chill
9pm: work/watch tv
12am: nighttime skincare, quickly blow dry my damp hair and then it’s time for bed!
I loved reading yours! I don’t know why, it really is so interesting though!
With you about it being hard getting out of bed.
I’m with you on the mid-morning workout. It’s my absolute favorite perk of being self employed. I also like to do my laundry at this time and grocery store runs. Need to get better about shutting it off at night as I write this at 10pm… and have my laptop in my lap while I get some work done.
xo Jessica
an indigo day
YES! I initially felt guilty but then thought better of that with all the other stuff we have to deal with as self employed people (taxes, healthcare, ETC!) xo
I love this day-in-the-life blog post! So simple and concise – I love that you prioritize and balance (or try to!) social life and self-care with work, it’s so important. Would love to see more blog posts like this!!
Happy you enjoyed it!
Love day in the life posts! I wake up at the same time but feel like you get way more accomplished lol might need to better structure my days.
Hahaha, some days are more productive than others 😉
I really loved this post and the comment section as well! So interesting to read about everyone’s schedule. 🙂
Living the “corporate” life my weeks look pretty boring, I get up between 6-7am depending on whether I’m going to the office or not (covid has been so hard on us but I’m forever grateful it made my employer introduce the possibility of working from home and even now that most of the restrictions are gone here in Europe, we still get to do that). I let my dog out, get ready and leave (or make coffee and start my laptop, haha). My drive to and from work takes about 20 to 50 minutes, depending on how busy it is on the road… So I usually arrive at the office between 8-9am and leave again between 5-6pm (unless I have some big project going or other deadline right around the corner, then I tend to work longer days).
After work I run errands, cook dinner, take my dog for a (longer) walk, do yoga, watch Netflix, maybe meet my friends, … I’d definitely need to exercise more but nothing interests me right now besides yoga and walking?
I usually go to bed around 10pm because like you, I like to read for an hour before actually sleeping. It just brings my mind at ease. 🙂