I love “Day In My Life”-style videos on Youtube. For those who don’t know, they’re vlogs where the Youtuber guides the viewer through a single day in their life: what they do, what they eat, who they’re hanging out with, and when. These videos feel so personal, like you’re a privileged insider, despite the undeniable fact that the day was probably curated with your viewing in mind.
Having said that, I wanted to try it out for myself! Since starting my grad program in January (and especially since coming to Seattle while trying to keep East Coast hours), I’ve become really interested in how I spend my time. I’m not necessarily strapped for time in general, but more so, for focus time. After some trial-and-error, I’ve realized that trying to do my grad class after work is pointless, since my brain has shut off by then. As you’ll see, this fact has pretty much shaped my current routine.
The day I’m about to show—Friday, March 4th—is pretty much the “ideal day” for me. Often I sleep in for an extra 30 minutes, and I definitely don’t have a cool ~social~ event planned every night. Looking back though, it was a really fun day overall, and it makes me happy to re-live it.
So here we go!
5:33 AM. The “silent alarm” on my Fitbit goes off at 5:30 AM every day. I close the bedroom door on the way out to block the light.
5:40 AM. I’ve brushed my teeth, washed my face with cold water, put on my contacts, and popped in my retainer (I prefer this to wearing it at night). At this point, I’m pretty much awake and head to the kitchen table to start studying! Usually this means going through recorded lectures and taking notes.
6:23 AM. My boyfriend’s woken up. Every Friday, he and his friends run to a local bakery and get pastries (he has a running vest that he uses to carry them back). Coconut’s woken up too and curls up on my lap as I continue studying.
7:52 AM. Done with studying for the day! I start my actual job at 8 AM (11 ET), so I like to call it quits on the grad stuff around 10 minutes beforehand. I usually read TheSkimm during this time and walk around to stretch my legs.
8:03 AM. My boyfriend returned from his run with a sticky bun and a berry-cream-cheese danish! I stick these in the oven to warm ’em up.
8:16 AM. I eat half of the danish for breakfast and work for the next couple hours. My team observes “No Meeting Fridays,” which I really enjoy since I can get a lot done when uninterrupted!
Meanwhile, Coconut chills on the couch!
10:19 AM. Time to walk Coconut! We take him out together.
Anyways, after feeding him I get back to work for the next few hours!
2:06 PM. I’ve become obsessed with indoor s’mores (I think they might be my favorite dessert!?). My boyfriend’s apartment has a gas range, so toasting the marshmallows is especially easy to do here. We each have one and keep working.
4:34 PM. Time to take Coconut on another walk! Usually this doesn’t happen until later in the evening, but it’s gorgeous today and I’m already done with work, so why not!
Views from the walk — you can see the Olympic Mountains in the horizon!
5:19 PM. We meet up with my boyfriend at a nearby grocery store. We’re hanging out with a few of his neighbors tonight and decided to bring homemade pretzels (which we’ve both never made before), hence the shopping trip!
There’s a local Girl Scout troop selling cookies, so I buy a couple of boxes as I wait outside with Coconut.
6:25 PM. The pretzel-making process! This was super fun.
6:48 PM. Done! They turned out great and were really easy to make — here’s the recipe we used! We even had time to make a cheesy dipping sauce.
A little after 7 PM. We head over to the neighbors’ place, where the pretzels were a hit! We’d initially brought Coconut, but there was an almost-kerfuffle with the hosts’ dog, who’s much larger. I walked Coconut around the block to cool him down, dropped him back home, and then headed back to their place, where we stayed for the next three-ish hours.
There were four couples present, and when we left around 10 PM, we were shockingly the first to go! Now that we’re early risers, anything past 9:30 PM feels late. 🥱
Aaaand that was a Day In My Life! Again, a very very good one — the fact that it was a Friday definitely played into how relaxing and activity-filled it was.
Excited to keep having more like this! 🐶
Existential Turtle Time 