A too realistic day in the life of a singleton who freelances for a living.
I don’t sleep in proper two-piece pajama sets, not unless I’m traveling and need to impress others. But when I’m home it’s normally a tattered t-shirt or tank top w/either pajama bottoms or a plain camisole slip dress. My bed is usually disheveled with the blankets moved about in lumps because I toss and turn in my sleep. I’m also one of those need to have a leg sticking out from under the cover sleeper.
Let’s not forget that the original day in the life routines were always published in print magazines, way back when there was print magazines. I remember the excitement of finding such a feature in Vogue or The New Yorker about illustrious people sharing what supposedly went on a particular day in their private life. The curiosity that carried from the start of the timestamp of when this celebrity started their day until their bedtime fascinated me. Even if some parts were boring, like the proverbial morning smoothie or the private trainer workout session, it felt like an entertaining read. And as much as I do crave the multitudes of morning routines and day in the life vlog content on YouTube and TikTok, when you’ve watched enough the entirety lacks the imagination it once had when I used to just read about it.
So this is me on a Tuesday, which is normally a “power day” to get things done, administrative, personal and creative. Mostly desktop business, which for most freelancers can understand right away that it’s a no-nonsense day. This also means that majority of this day takes place at the comforts of my work from home environment.
6:13 am:
Ever since I started setting my alarm to this exact time, I’ve been able to wake up on the dot and rarely went back to sleep. Don’t know why, but maybe something about the unordinary time sequence connects perfectly with my biorhythms?
Upon rising from my semi-messy bed I get up with eyes still half-closed and draw my bedroom curtains - not all the way just slightly to let the early morning’s presence force me to commit to another day of living. This is how I officiate every morning. Also my hair is an abomination, tousled and tangled, because that is how real humans look each morning.
Sometimes I’ll drink a glass of water, it all depends on how dry my throat is or if I went out the night before. See, I’m not that girl in the vlog who charismatically wants to drink water (with lemon) first thing in the morning. Maybe someday. My beverage of choice is a very strong cup of coffee that is always enjoyed in bed. While my fur baby lays dormant beside me, I sip my morning coffee while staring heavily at her for a good 3 minutes. Anything less, then you’re not a very good dog mom (joking). I have gotten a lot better at not checking my phone first thing in the mornings. Instead have trained myself to meditate, which is what I do and as always my dog Chae wakes and pops her head up from her blanket cave when she hears the first “OHMMMMMMM”. And then she returns into hiding, this day in the life is as much hers as it is mine.
6:30 am:
I read a chapter in a book. Just finished Yellowface, my review is below.
7am:
Make myself strong coffee #2 and station myself at my work desk to write. I turn on my playlist dedicated to the book I’m writing and try to get lost in my imagination. A excellent writing day will take up to an hour, which is such a euphoria, but at the most I really aim for 30-45 minutes. And I’ve learned from other writers on TikTok that even if you can only get 5 minutes in or a paragraph that it’s a good thing too. Today I wrote for a little over 30 minutes and I felt okay about it, but already looking forward to the rewrites.
The remainder of the hour I do a fast sprucing up of the apartment that includes spraying home scents, lighting a scented candle and a quick swiffer of the floors. (I don’t spend big money on home scented sprays or diffusers because I don’t think you have to, but definitely on candles) The hour is finished off with a 10 minute yoga stretch routine. Sometimes if the mood strikes me, I’ll search for K-pop dance routines on YouTube. At this point on for the next few hours or rather the entirety of the day, music is always playing either from Spotify or YouTube.
8am - 9:30 am:
The dog gets its first walk, then upon return as the military men say, I “shit, shower, shave” but my version is “shit, shower, shave, skincare.”
None of this would seem at all stimulating to watch in a video.
10am - 1:30 pm
These few hours are dedicated to freelance work. All boring stuff and in between I’ve indulged in a mid-morning matcha, a supergreens drink and a cup of earl grey tea, which all accompanied my work-from-home breakfast of an avocado toast, Greek yogurt w/granola and a banana.
My ootd is a Cos t-shirt and vintage Levi’s denim handmade cut-off shorts.
Even though Tuesdays are my power admin day, I still don’t clean out my inbox or reply to all emails like the grwm YouTube girlies are so capable of achieving. I allow it to fester on the contingency that I will respond to each and every 100 something of them when I am good and ready. Also - nobody has over 100 new important emails ever in their inbox (not counting Promotions or Updates sections). That would be insane. Well, maybe if you work in government or manage 2 desks for an A-list Hollywood agent then yes it’s more believable. And even then only like 20 of those hundreds are going to be worth replying to immediately on a given day. However, I do answer emails that require same day replies and the others I snooze or add to my weekly to-do lists.
I’m not going to pretend that I have designated times to check social media. I check it at least once every other hour on very productive work days.
2pm - 4:30pm:
Dog walk #2 that usually takes half an hour. Back at home I ponder if I want lunch. Unless I’m working outside ie: a coworking space or at a cafe, lunch is pretty non-existent for me. I have to be in the mood and/or starving.
