See, the thing is, with all these lockdowns, I get to experience what it's like to be a full-time writer. Am I always home? No. Only when the government tells me I have to be. But here is a peek inside my daily routine when I am home.
Morning.
7am: Wake up
Whenever my body naturally arises. Usually that's with the first rays of sunlight through my window, anywhere between 6 and 7am, but we'll round for the sake of ease.
7-7:45am: Morning routine.
This includes:
Bathroom.
Wash face + brush teeth.
Exercise. (Monday and Friday are solely cardio. If it's nice out, I'll go for a run; if not then I'll do some HIIT or aerobics. Tuesday-Thursday is various weight training.)
Bible.
Breakfast. (Premier Protein's chocolate shake is literally so good.)
*Hair and light makeup (If I have any meetings).
8am: Work time.
I'll make a to-do list. This includes everything I hope to accomplish work-wise in the day. Any meetings, editing, writing, or reading. I get to cross things off as the day goes on and I feel super powerful.
8:10am: Normally writing related work. (With a snack break and stretch around 9:30-10ish.)
The first things on the list that I tend to tackle are writing related. That means if I have drafting, editing, or CP reading, I'll start with that.
Today, that looks like writing + publishing this post, making social media for said post, editing Manuscript 1 of mine, and reading for a CP.
I'm very much a morning person, so I work best pretty close to when I wake up. Getting the toughest/most creative-brain-intensive things done here really opens up the rest of my day.
~11:30am: Lunch time.
I love food. I plan out my day around when I get to eat. Seriously.
Around 11:30 I'll take about an hour to digress. I'll eat some food (this week it's turkey chili with sweet potato and apple) and generally watch an episode of any of the shows I'm following.
I'll also get up and take a walk to get the body moving again. Writing involves a lot of sitting.
Afternoon.
12:30pm: Back to work.
This is when I take a look at my to-do list again. How much is left? What do I still need to do?
If the list is short, I'll take the afternoon slow. I'll take longer breaks to move and stretch, I might watch another episode of something, do some research. I typically don't push myself to complete anything.
BUT, if the list is still pretty long, it's all guns blazing until dinner. I get into the headspace for each task a little more efficiently than organically.
This is the time that I would work on things like:
Reading published works.
Anything not writing related like website updates, research, planning, etc. Things that tend to be a little more fluid and not quite as requiring of my creative brain.
Today, that means any carry-over from this morning, reading up to chapter 8 of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo to make notes for my Insta Live chat tomorrow with Meg Wald (it's at 4pm EST in case you want to join. @meganwaldwrites and @erinogilviefisher), and a meeting.
3:00pm: SNACK BREAK.
Yup, more food. I'll get up and stretch, peruse my kitchen, and then come back after about 15 minutes.
It's honestly amazing how a little break can jump-start your brain again.
4:30pm: Digress.
I try to finish up my work for the day between 4 and 4:30pm. This gives me about an hour before I have to start making dinner to do whatever I want to do.
Lately, that's been reading books for leisure. But it could also be getting outside, combing TikTok/YouTube, random internet black holes, etc.
Evening.
5:30pm: Dinner prep.
My husband and I have started ordering Chef's Plate, and let me tell you, it's a life saver. My grocery lists are so much shorter and the amount of thought I have to put towards dinner is significantly lower. Which leaves me free to be more creative.
At 5:30, I'll toddle over to the kitchen and start preparing food.
6:30pm: Dinner time!
More food. So pumped. We typically eat around the table, family style, and just spend some time together.
7:10pm: Clean up.
As exciting as it sounds. Dinner is over, now there are dishes to do. #adulting
~7:30pm: Rest.
I try to keep most of my evenings free of responsibilities for the sake of my sanity. I have a few things during the week, but 75% of the time my evenings are open. This is normally reserved for introvert time (working, even at home, doesn't feel like alone time when you always have something to do), but I might also make spontaneous plans with friends--or, I guess now, spontaneous Zoom calls. Or I might hang out with my husband. Anything that's not working.
(Oh, and Monday nights are date nights so that's reserved.)
9:30pm: Get ready for bed.
I set out my clothes for the next day (workout and day clothes), wash my face, brush my teeth, and I'm typically in bed by 10pm.
I have a pretty rigid sleep schedule. If I'm not in bed and going to sleep by 10:15pm, I will be tired the next day--no matter how much sleep I get.
Obviously, this is an ideal day. Not everyday looks so neat and orderly. Sometimes, if I'm having a hard time creatively, I'll take a day off. Or if I find I'm not vibing in the afternoon, I might break for the afternoon and choose to work in the evening instead.
The benefit of managing your own schedule--and not yet having kids--is that there is a lot of freedom in what this schedule looks like. I'm not very hard on myself if I miss a thing or two. But food times and my morning/night routines are pretty much always the same.
What does your day look like? How close is it to your ideal day?
Happy writing,
Erin
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