Over the course of the last three years, I’ve been honored to have been interviewed for some really amazing blogs. I won’t list them all out here, but with each interview I noticed that many people wondered what a day in my life was like as a business owner. As someone who loves seeing how other people do things, I love sharing what my days usually look like! I truly believe that by getting a peek into how your peers or those you may look up to do things so that you can maybe figure out what will work for you!
Since the last time I shared my daily routine in an interview, things have changed a bit! So, here’s a look at what a typical day as a business owner looks like for me:
06:00 – 06:30: Wake up When I was in high school I used to sleep in like crazy. I would stay up late and sleep in late. However, as I’ve gotten older things have changed. In the last few years of college, D and I were getting up around 08:00, but now he’s starting his days a lot earlier, so I wake up with him or after he gets back from his workouts. Around this time, I’m just getting up, getting Zoey out, and chatting about the day ahead and what’s for dinner.
06:30 – 07:00: Walk with Zoey Since the weather here in SC is crazy hot + humid, we’ve had to move our mid-morning walk to first thing in the morning. This means shortly after we get up or after D leaves for the day we’re out walking! We typically walk six days a week, so even on the weekend this is when we’re getting out. Depending on the weather we walk anywhere from 1.75 – 2 miles. Some days I come back and jog a few miles on our treadmill after walking, and some days I just shower and we have breakfast.
07:00 – 09:00: Reading / preparing for the day I love the first few hours of the day, and that’s so crazy since I never used to be a morning person. Around this time Zoey is finally ready to nap (she wakes up hyper – it’s crazy), so I get to sit down with a cup of coffee and watch the Today Show, read a book or catch up on blog reading, and just generally getting things ready for the day. I’ve been switching up some systems for my business, so lately this means I’m grabbing my little notebook with my client paperwork and my planner and getting cozy on the couch. I wish I could say I primarily work in my office, but surprise! Zoey prefers to sleep next to or virtually on top of me, so I pretty much only work from the couch. I might get a few hours in upstairs in the office (the above photo was taken last week when I got about ~45 minutes of work done before Zoey got restless), but we spend most of our time on the couch.
09:00 – 12:00: Emails / client work / errands This time of day is kind of up in the air, like for most people. If I don’t need to run somewhere first thing in the morning, I’ll start by answering quick emails, like questions from previous clients or responding to a current client about their feedback or questions. I also make sure that the day’s blog post is written and scheduled, and that the social media is scheduled if I haven’t done so already. Some days I want to get out of the house for a little bit or need to run out for an errand or two, so I’ll do this in the morning. Once I’m back or if I’m not getting out, I get started on my client work for the day. I’ve been implementing my three big things, so I’ll get started on what can be wrapped up and uploaded or started on for my clients.
12:00 – 1:00: Lunch I typically work until I get hungry, so sometimes that’s 11:30, sometimes that’s 12:30 – 1:00. We’ve been planning our dinners so that I have leftovers to eat for lunch, so whenever I get hungry I grab something and warm it up. Other than just eating, I’ll watch something in the DVR, check social media, and sometimes sit outside with Zoey for a little bit (weather depending). I always plan on taking a full hour for lunch, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. It really depends on if I can break away from work for a full hour or if I even want to.
1:00 – 4:00: Client work / blog posts / newsletter / etc The afternoon is more up in the air than the morning. My first priority is client work, obviously, so if I’m not done with that I’ll pick back up after lunch and get things done. Once I finish client work, or if I don’t have anything else to do, I jump into stuff for my brand. I’ll write blog posts if I need to or write the week’s email for my Wild Hearts Community. Sometimes Zoey starts getting restless during these hours, so I’ll play with her for a little while if I have time.
4:00 – 5:00: Wrap up / inbox zero This is when I start wrapping up for the day. D usually doesn’t get home until around 6:00, but I start cooking dinner around 5:00. Before I shut down for the day, I try to make sure I’ve answered all my emails (if I can), that I’ve created my to do list for the next day, and that I can unwind for the night. I’m usually closing my laptop before 5:00, but when I do that I check my emails a few last times on my phone before letting work go for the evening. If nothing else, I’ll move emails to the folder it belongs to in my inbox so I have everything together to tackle the next day.
The rest of the evening depends on a lot of things. Do we want to go out to eat? Am I cooking dinner? Do we need to do something around the house? Does D need to iron or shine shoes for his uniforms? Some nights I spend the rest of the evening reading or watching tv, and some nights I grab my computer to search around on Pinterest or work on something for me. Totally depends on how I’m feeling!
That’s about it! I love being able to work from home and getting to decide what my days look like. This is a typical day for me, but don’t get me wrong – things can look very different!
I’d love to hear what y’all’s work days look like! Feel free to share your schedule in the comments! :)
Ps: Want to see how others in the industry work? Kelsey shared a lovely break down of her schedule, Lauren just shared her schedule last week, and Melyssa shared her work day a few weeks ago, as well!