As we head into week 5, more and more of the conversations I’m having with friends seems to be about our routines. How do you separate your personal time from working from home? What can you do to distinguish a weekday from a weekend in times of COVID-19. Everyone’s answers will be different, but since week 2 of quarantine, I’ve been following the same routine and it works for me! I’ve always loved having a routine because it means that something remains constant in my life. In these uncertain times, it also is a distraction from what’s happening out there that I know can consume me.
8:00 AM – Alarm goes off. This is a generous wake up call compared to my 6:45 alarm on any normal day. I catch up on email and social apps for 30 minutes before I get up.
8:30AM – 9:00 AM – Shower, get dressed and get ready. Obviously this period of time is shortened because we’re not getting ready like we would for work. I’ll put on my comfy clothes for the day (typically leggings and a top) and for makeup, it’s much more toned down. Currently, I’m only using moisturizer, BB cream, eyeliner, and filling in my brows.
9:00AM – 9:45 AM – Make breakfast! On a normal work day, most of you know that my breakfast consists of a Starbucks latte, but it has been such a treat to start my day off with a quick bite. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but I’ve noticed that even eating something small can vastly improve my mood and energy heading into my first remote meeting. My favorites?
- Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- Banana or Berries
- 2-egg scramble
- Oatmeal
- Eggo waffles with whipped cream
- Instant Noodle Cup 🙂
9:45AM – 12PM – Work Time. I’m involved in meetings, working on projects, and generally being available for my team. Though I have a desk, I feel much more comfortable working from my couch with a blanket. In every article I’ve read, this hasn’t been advised, but it helps to feel more comfortable and productive.
Noon – 1PM– Lunch time – When I’m at the office, I don’t usually take the full hour, but at home, I’ll prepare something and use this time to break away from work. I might catch up on the internet, do an errand, or clean my house.
1PM – 6PM – Work Time. Similar to the morning, my focus is entirely on my work save for a small break. During my work period, I refrain from watching television and instead only listen to music. If I were at the office, that would be part of my routine as well so I didn’t want to turn on the television since that’s not normally what I would do.
Sometime between 1-3PM, I’ll take a quick TikTok break! This is when the lighting is best in my apartment for filming, but it’s also a way to split up my day. Learning the dance and getting it filmed takes about 30 minutes. I’ve really come to enjoy this part of my day because it means that I’m challenging myself daily and working on improving a skill even if it is just for fun. I haven’t even been tempted to learn how to buy TikTok likes or followers, I’m just purely doing this for the fun
6PM – 7PM – Work is done for the day and I’m starting to prepare dinner. For the first time since I’ve lived in this apartment, I have a fully stocked kitchen. With fresh groceries, I try to create a plan for the week what I’m going to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner because this is not a time where I should be wasting any food. I want to make sure everything is put to good use! Since I still want to support local restaurants and give myself a break from cooking, I’ll order takeout from one of my favorite places 1-2 times a week. This is also a treat for myself!
7PM – 9PM – Yow Yow! time – If we didn’t have dedicated writing time, Yow Yow! wouldn’t be making any progress. This is my time to catch up on what’s going on in the news outside COVID-19. With some music in the background, we get to building content.
9PM – 10:30PM – I relax by watching one episode of a show or a movie! During this time, I shut down my laptop and unwind before bed. Lately, I’ve been thinking that I should try using something like CBD oil UK in order to help me relax even more before another day of work.
10:30 PM – You would think that during this time, I would try and stay up later because I can. I’ve come to enjoy how much sleep I’m getting during this period though. I start my bedtime routine and I’m on my phone for a bit before falling asleep and restarting the day all over again.
Workouts
Weekends are a bit different without the work portion so I spend more time on Yow Yow! content and learning harder dance routines for TikTok. Staying current and coming up with unique content is vital if I want to attract more followers and likes on TikTok. If not, I may need to contact growth companies like Enforce Social for their expert assistance in gaining followers. As learning new dance moves can physically benefit me, I choose to take the former route. Also, since I’m not able to go to CorePower, I’m trying to find ways to get exercise in a couple times a week. There are some great Instagram lives happening daily, however, if they don’t always align with my schedule I can go back and watch them in highlights. Here are my favorite accounts to follow for that:
- [@rrayyme] – Her and her boyfriend host a workout class every morning at 9AM!
- [@revolve] – They post a daily schedule every week with different types of workouts hosted by different people. Some require equipment and most do not!
- [@joja] – They are currently hosting some classes, but they also post on their feed different types of exercises you can do to create your own custom workout. Pick and choose what works for you! I personally have a folder saved for fitness on Instagram where I favorite some of the exercises they post about.
Catch-ups
Since these happen sporadically through the days and weeks, I always have a virtual hangout or phone call with a family member or friend at least once a day. There’s just not a set time for it in my routine. I think it’s healthy to still incorporate social interaction, but also to check in with your loved ones as much as possible.
News
It can be so easy to go down this rabbit hole, but I try to avoid it. During this time, many friends have told me how they’re creating healthy boundaries for themselves so there’s no right or wrong way to do this. I only check Twitter once in the morning when I wake up and in the evening right before bed. I recognize these aren’t the best times, but it’s best for me to avoid it during the day and when I’m in work mode. The same goes for all news-related COVID-19 items.
Live Music
I catch Ben Gibbard on his [Facebook stream] every Thursday at 4PM PT. And on Saturdays, we catch Harley Viera-Newton and her husband Ross Schwartzman for their [DJ set] on Saturdays at 3PM PT
This routine keeps me busy, but sometimes being busy isn’t always the right move. Only you know what is best for you and that might be taking time for yourself, being unproductive for an hour, journaling, etc. I have those moments too even if it doesn’t look like it in this schedule. 🙂