I love doing Day in the Life posts, even if my normal day-to-day life is relatively boring. I know I enjoy reading others’ and I love documenting my day every once in a while. I thought it would be fun to talk about the things I do at my new job (spoiler alert: nothing terribly exciting!), as well as fit in #NaNoWriMo writing on a regular day. Here we go!
5:00am: First alarm goes off. I shut it off and think, What is my life? This is so unfair.
5:10am: Second alarm goes off. I shut this one off. New thought: Maybe I’ll skip this morning’s workout. And just work out the next five days straight. I snuggle a little deeper in my pillow and Dutch wriggles his little body closer to mine. Ahh.
5:20am: Third alarm goes off. I shut this one off and, feeling a bit more awake, think, No, no, no, no, no. You must work out today, Steph. Just do it and get it over with.
5:25am: I’m finally up and out of bed. I get dressed and take Dutch out on a walk. He’s a pokey little puppy, just like every morning.
5:45am: I’m out the door for a run-walk. I don’t meet my running goal, but that’s okay. I’ll try again on Thursday. At least I got in some good exercise, though! When I come home, I stretch out my calves and even spend a few minutes massaging them with The Stick (something I need to do more often – my calves get super, super tight after I run).
6:25am: Start getting ready for the day. Shower, do my hair and make-up, get dressed, pack my lunch, and spend a few minutes snuggling with Dutch and talking to my mom before I leave.
This is me trying to take an OOTD shot. I just can’t. Whatever.
7:20am: Start my commute! It’s a straight shoot into Tampa with no big traffic delays. Yay!
7:50am: Arrive at work and settle in. Work email has remained quiet overnight so nothing pressing to get to first thing. I start this post, answer a few personal emails, and check on my fantasy football team. I lost and my brother now has a one-game lead on me. Read a few blogs.
8:45am: A coworker brought in pumpkin squares with the most delicious cream cheese frosting so while going into the kitchen to fill up my water cup, I take a piece. It’s delicious! I think my taste buds are evolving and now I like pumpkin-flavored things? Weird.
9:00am: After taking care of some little things, I can finally get to work on my writing for the day. I clear away the distractions and set a timer for one hour to get some writing done. Today, I’m writing about outdoor patio products. It’s my third month writing for this client so I’m getting into a better groove with them. (And my pages last month were sent back with minimal edits so YAY! My first month was not so pretty!)
10:10am: Take a short break. I review a book on Goodreads (Blue Like Jazz – four stars!) and read a few blog posts.
10:20am: My short break is over and I’m back to writing. I run into a question with a keyword I’m writing about and what it means so I email my editor and as I wait to hear back, I Google about it and see if I can find the answer but am getting conflicting responses. Frustrating! So I tend to bathroom business – and I need a break from the desk! – before coming back and seeing a response. I have direction and now can get back to work!
11:45am: Take a short break to give my mind a rest. This entails blog reading and posting an Instagram photo of my breakfast (late).
11:55am: Okay, back to writing! My goal is to finish two more pages (around 300 words a piece) before going to lunch, which I do and then it’s time for lunch. My stomach is a-rumbling!
12:40pm: I go down to my car to eat lunch. This is my new favorite thing. I could eat in the break room, but I kinda love completely getting away from the office. I’m trying to eat moderately healthy so I’ve packed a chicken salad, an apple, and a FiberOne brownie. A very filling lunch for me!
1:40pm: Back to work and I spend some time writing this post, and then answering an email from my mom.
2:00pm: Writing time again! My goal is to finish writing the pages so I can spend the rest of the day editing them.
3:35pm: Pages are finished. Whew! Took a bit longer than I expected, because I kept getting distracted by shiny Internet things. 🙂
3:50pm: After a short break to give my mind a rest after all that writing, I accept a proofing request from another writer and start editing her pages.
4:45pm: Content has been proofed and sent back to the writer. I print out the pages I wrote today so I can edit them. (I like this method because sometimes you catch something you don’t see on a computer screen!) Spend the rest of my day reading over my pages and making edits.
5:30pm: Time to go home! I log off my computer, gather my belongings, and begin the commute home. (The sky was gorgeous tonight! I literally gasped and said, “Oh, it’s so pretty!”)
5:50pm: Quick pit stop at the store to pick up lettuce and cheese for tacos tonight!
6:05pm: Finally home! I dump my stuff on a dining room chair and then take Dutch on a long walk outside. It feels wonderful outside. (We’re still seeing 80-degree temperatures here, but it dips into the 60s/70s at night. Perfect!)
6:20pm: Take some time to dwaddle around the house. Put on my PJs, take off my make-up, feed Dutch, snuggle with him on the couch, talk with my mom.
6:50pm: Start making dinner and put on last night’s episode of The Voice. Tacos take less than 20 minutes to make and soon, I’m sitting down with my mom to eat! We continue watching The Voice and I start working on this post.
8:15pm: Dessert (Reese’s ice cream!) with an episode of The Mindy Project.
8:40pm: Time to get started on my #NaNoWriMo word count for today. My goal is to write 1,500 words. I take my laptop into my room so I can write without any distractions. Dutch curls up next to me and we are ready to go!
9:35pm: Finish up with my writing for today. I wrote a little over 1,500 words which brings me to a total of 11,081! I am ahead of schedule, with the possibility of finishing on November 23 if I keep up with this pace. I hope I can do it! Add my stats for today to my #NaNoWriMo page and tweet about it. (Because of course!)
9:40pm: Finish writing this post, read for a bit, and then it’s time for bed!
10:15pm: Lights out!
You have long work days! 8 – 5:30 is 9.5 hours right? Is that why you get off early on Fridays though?? I guess that would make the long day more worth it!
This post also made me really want some taco’s!!! haha
I agree with Amber – Now tacos may just be for dinner tonight in my household as well!
Does anyone take really good OOTD posts? If so, I’d love to learn their tricks of the trade. I always feel awkward in mine.
I may have to borrow this idea! So fun.
Love the stripes! I never really liked my OOTD posts as they are usually taken in the bathroom at work which has bad lighting as I don’t have a full body length mirror in my apartment in an area with good lighting…
Mmm, I have not made tacos in so long! I love tacos – especially taco salads as I have hard time eating all the taco shells before they get sort of stale (such is the life of a girl who lives alone!). But I do love me a taco salad!
I am jealous/in awe of your ability to get up early. You make it seem so simple! I literally roll out of bed, get ready in 15 minutes and am out the door, and I find it IMPOSSIBLE to get up any earlier because sleep > anything else I would do (exercise, journaling, yoga, or even just watching TV).
Long days, oh my gosh! I’m still so in awe of your morning routine. TEACH ME YOUR WAYS.
Also, your job sounds great.
Girl! You make the naggy big sister in me come out with that driving shot. 🙂
I love tacos for dinner and I love reading a day in my life posts!