A too realistic day in the life of a singleton who freelances for a living.
There’s no fake it until you make it, it just is.
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.
I spend the next 2 hours on DNAMAG website stuff, researching, updating and writing the next newsletter (that’s you guys).
4:30 pm:
Video call with a client, I love that she too prefers a speedy 20-30 minute tops weekly catch up. Somewhere in between I did realize that I should’ve eaten lunch because my head was spinning and began to feel shaky. As soon it was done I practically ran to the fridge and grabbed the last of a brie cheese and scarfed it down followed by some slices of apple. Crisis averted, stomach happy.
5pm:
Then I realized that I was only at 5,348 steps at which point I slightly panic since my brain believes that less than 8k steps a day can only result to me dying young. So I decided to walk to the store in hopes of picking up ingredients for dinner tonight. I wasn’t completely out of groceries, but nothing in the fridge appeared to dazzle me. Plus, I really wanted to get my steps in.
On the way home I ran into a friend who asked me if I wanted to join a bookclub that she was thinking of starting. Initially, I relished at the thought of such camaraderie and touched by the invite. I asked who would be choosing the books, which was a crucial question because I needed to know what genre she herself was into. Then I remembered that she was a lit major at Columbia, and that quickly eased my mind. Her brisk answer was “we’ll figure it out, just want to get a head count first. You’re on Slack right?” I confirmed my membership and continued on my way home. Another day, another Slack group to be a part of.
6pm:
I do some more Substack writing. I finish up any other work emails and try to catch up on reading the myriad of other newsletters I subscribe to.
7pm:
Thing you should know about me is that I hate cooking, at least weeknight cooking. And I try to limit my food deliveries for either Thursday, Friday or Sunday nights. One of my goals in life is to at some point hire a private chef, that would be my one luxury splurge. I don’t need an expensive car or a house in the Hamptons, but would love to have a private chef. Then, I would probably consider eating lunch everyday. For dinner I opted for a veggie rigatoni, nothing extravagant, but sufficiently delicious. I poured myself a glass of red, which I normally forget to do but I was still on a “I’m gonna be in a bookclub!” high. I sat, ate, drank and watched an episode of season 3 of My Brilliant Friend hoping to finish it in time for the new final season coming up this month. By the way, my dinner didn’t include anything that I had bought from Whole Foods that was meant for that evening, except for the slice of German chocolate cake that I devoured.
Post-dinner I took my fur baby for her last call pee walk. That’s literally what I call it and when I say it to her she understands that it’s a regulated 10-15 minute walk just enough to empty her bladder for the duration of the night. (She also has a pee pad, but either chooses to not use it or can hold it in pretty well until morning)
9pm:
2 episodes of My Brilliant Friend later, this series is so consuming, I’ve even watched the dance scene in season 1 over and over. My nighttime routine usually consists of skincare and an attempt to do some more writing.
Nothing, no flashes of creativity found its way to me and so I watched some TikTok videos.
10:00 pm
In bed and excited to watch the new episode of Slow Horses. (it was good and I can tell it’s going to be quite a season) I wanted to read a little before light’s out, but it occurred to me that I had finished Yellowface and so I popped in 2 melatonin gummies and made sure that my to-do list and schedule for the next day were precise. I scrolled one last time on TikTok until I yawned. I think I fell asleep soundly by no later than 11:15.
Is this a boring rendition of a day in my life? Absolutely, I’ll be the first to say it, but that’s what a Tuesday is for. Also it was a day after a long weekend holiday, so it was slow and boring for majority of people. The rest of this week my “dance card” is full with a friend’s birthday dinner and some work events. But, generally Tuesdays are always just for me and it’s the way I like it. The one day that I actually live slow enough for the city.
Steps completed = 9,593
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5 GOOD THINGS
SoCurious greeting cards by Justin Shiels a fellow Substack’er
I have never desired, lusted and emailed for a restock notice more than this Assouline journal
The return of the J.Crew catalog 🙌🏽
Debut photo book by young Irish photographer Eimear Lynch titled Girls Night
This chocolate suede mini skirt by Alexa Chung for Madewell
I just finished the last of my summer reading which was Yellowface by RF Kuang. This was one of the most overhyped books of 2024 and my review is that it was okay. I didn’t feel angry like much of the TikTok readers expressed feeling or astonished as one reviewer would write on goodreads. It was okay. I’ve never read a book where I disliked all the characters, each and every one of them except for maybe the DoorDash delivery guy with the toilet paper (not a spoiler haha). If you were to put me in a room with all the characters my first instinct would be to order an Uber. I did feel like the writer wrote specifically in filmic, a term used to imply that it will transfer easily and well on to screen. And that is kind of a literary pet peeve of mine. Of course we all have books that we imagine in our heads would hopefully be turned into a film or series, but for me it felt too obvious. Whether that was the author’s aim or if that’s just her writing style and pace then fine, I just thought it was an okay read start to finish. I can see why it’s a Reese Witherspoon’s book club pick, it’s very up her alley, I won’t say more on that even though I know some things, wink-wink. Will I watch the film/series adaption of this book? Absolutely. (If I had a pick on casting - Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) as Candice / Michelle Zauner (author of Crying in H Mart and singer of Japanese Breakfast) as Athena (since that character would only have a few scenes, I think she looks the literary part obviously and her face just kept popping into my head) / and I’ve already started hearing Sydney Sweeney’s name thrown around for lead prospect as Juniper, which sure could work but not as a blonde. I’m right here CAA if you want more help!)
I don’t have a next book to read, so if you have any suggestions please send!
Until next week,
DNAMAG
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