I know I always find it fascinating to get a glimpse into someone else’s day, whether it’s a blogger I follow or someone I view as an inspiration professionally. Keeping it real is also something that’s very important to me here on the blog so I wanted to give you a little glimpse into what a typical weekday is like in my world in my never ending attempt to balance work / blogging / life.

I had every intention of taking photos throughout the day to correspond to each of these time slots 
but it didn’t even come close to happening thanks to some craziness and to make sure I’m keepin’ it real, 
here’s a photo instead of the lovely view from my “get shit done” corner at the office

6:00 AM: Alarm goes off, my well intentions of getting up early fly out the window as I snooze and roll over to snuggle with Callie (she’s an excellent little spoon)

6:30-45 AM: Give in on my second or third alarm and scroll through work email + catch up on Instagram while still in bed. Finally get myself up and immediately make a beeline for the kitchen to make myself a latte with two shots of espresso using my beloved Nespresso. Tidy up around the apartment, catch up on blog emails & comments and schedule social media posts for throughout the day to keep me covered while I’m at work.

7:30 AM: Realize an hour has gone past and I’m still sitting in my pajamas. Hop in the shower, get dressed & ready and walk Callie before heading out the door for work.

8:30 AM: Leave the apartment and walk to the subway to get to work – my commute is quick & easy and I’m endlessly grateful that I live in close proximity to all of the El lines (especially during Chicago’s lovely winters)

8:45 AM: Get to the office, catch up on more emails and read through my email newsletter subscriptions to pull open any articles that seem relevant. Figure out the priorities for the day and when I’ll have time to do actual work in between meetings. Scarf down breakfast at my desk (usually a Clif bar and yogurt) while giving myself another boost with a cup of coffee.

9:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Internal and client meetings, research, preparing client presentations, emails, etc. etc. My schedule can be unpredictable as far as workload and meetings goes so I never assume I’m going to be able to sneak out for lunch and instead will snack my latest at work haul from Trader Joe’s to try and avoid late afternoon starvation.

12:30 PM: If I happen to not be booked in meetings through lunch I love to take 30 minutes or so to unwind and step away from my desk for a bit. On nice days I’ll take a walk or grab an iced coffee from Starbucks but lately it’s been going to sit somewhere quiet outside of the office to catch up on my Feedly reader & all that’s happened in the blog world while I’ve been at work.

1:00 PM: Back at it, more meetings and work. As a strategist it’s important for me to be involved in pretty much all activity across my account so I tend to have my hands in lots of projects and work at once (which I love). A lot of my team is based out of our NYC office so it’s really important to make sure I’m connected with them and in the loop with what they have going on so we’re all aligned – lots of Skype calls & gChats!

7:00 PM: Wrap things up and leave the office and hop on the El to head home. The fifteen minutes or so I’m underground on the subway serves as a really nice time for me to decompress and disconnect – you’ll always find me with headphones in listening to Spotify.

7:15 PM: Arrive home and find several notifications on my mailbox for packages I’m now too late to pick up thanks to my Amazon and online shopping habit. Walk + feed Callie, change into pajamas and then hang out for a bit while again catching up with email, Instagram and Twitter on my phone before unpacking my laptop and formally settling in.

7:30 PM – 8:30 PM: Chip away at the day’s to do list while on the couch (I swear by a combination of TeuxDeux and Google Calendar to keep me on track) which usually is a mix of catching up on things, pulling items to be featured in blog content and managing all of the little household duties that tend to add up.

8:30 PM: Realize what time it is and that I haven’t eaten dinner yet – whip up something embarrassingly simple like scrambled eggs or avocado toast and eat at my desk in front of my laptop.

8:45 PM: Time to roll up my sleeves and get the serious stuff done on the blog front. While more casual things are done from my couch or breakfast bar, I tend to like designing images for blog posts and writing copy from my desk. There’s something about being in my “formal” blogging zone that helps boost productivity. I do my best to have my blog posts all scheduled for 7 AM the day the post is planned so I get everything up and running in advance, ideally the weekend before but that’s not always able to be the case.

10:30 PM: Take Callie out for our final walk of the day, wash my face + apply the nightly skin regimen and get into sleep mode. Read through Feedly reader and spend time on Pinterest while in bed before I tire myself out enough to go to sleep.

11 PM – 12 AM: Typical bed time. I’m absolutely not a night owl and most of the time I’m asleep well before midnight.

And repeat for each weekday. In full disclosure here, I’m not really the best about adding in the “life” element of the work / life / blog balance tend to be a total hermit during the week.  Working for an advertising agency means that my work day does not always end at 7 and my schedule can  be incredibly unpredictable and generally pretty mentally exhausting so I like to keep my schedule light during the week to give myself some time to breathe. 

What’s a typical day like in your world? How do you find time during the workweek to add in some fun while still managing to get it all done?