A Day in the Life

As most of y’all know I started blogging full time in April, a month before S and I got married. It was something I had been thinking about (and needing) to do for a long time and I finally took a *huge* leap of faith and did it. I L O V E waking up and doing what I love every single day! The great thing about working for yourself and from home means I have a flexible schedule but I am very Type A (Ennegram 1) and therefore I thrive in a structured environment. So, when I went full time for OTTEstyle.com I knew I needed to set guidelines for what my day and week looked like in order to get tasks done, tackle the daily (weekly/weekly/monthly/yearly) to do list and also stop working at a decent hour so I can spend time with my husband and friends. I’ll do a whole post on being self-employed at a young age at a later date, but for now I will say that my greatest struggle with it all is “clocking out”. I want quitting time to be the same time as Sam’s so we can unwind, take B for a walk, get/make dinner together and binge whatever show we’re watching at the moment… I don’t want to be a crazy workaholic that never stops, which I can tend to do– so, I have to make a conscious effort to stop now that I no longer leave my place of work… I’m always so close to my office (aka our guest room). I’ll share some of my tips and tricks for going from work mode to home mode later, if y’all are interested.

It’s important to note that as a blogger, each day can *and does* look different and sometimes I have to roll with the punches and allow my day to change as necessary. BUT for the most part, now that I am full time, I can plan out my month pretty easily which gives my days a lot of structure.

 

7:30am alarm goes off

7:45 bed is made (it’s the first thing I do when my feet hit
the floor) and I start making a cup of coffee while B eats
and I let him outside.

8:00 put a load of laundry in, unload the dishwasher,
or other small little household chores to get the day
started (like vacuuming dog hair)

8:30 devotional on the back porch while B plays
and I finish my *first cup of coffee*

9:00 *usually* this is when I head to our basement
to do a little fasted cardio or whatever workout is on the
schedule for TRIM that day. This is also when I post a
photo on Instagram that was edited and linked the day
before

10:00 shower + get ready for the day– because even
though I work from home, I have to dress for the
occasion *kinda*. It’s not like I’m in work wear,
it’s usually a pair of leggings/joggers and a graphic
tee… but it aint my PJs, so theres that.

10:30 work day begins with emails and returning DMs
— *insert fresh cup of coffee* while some of you may be
saying this is a late start to the day, and you may be
right, I can’t sit down and work until I have cleaned up,
talked to Jesus, gotten my heart rate up and consumed
at least two cups of coffee… and I’m not a machine or a
real adult quite yet so 7:45 is the earliest I can pry my
eyes open.

11:30 edit photos and put the finishing touches on the
blog post for the day, which almost always goes live at 1pm.

12:00pm *break my fast* while still sitting at the computer
and starting a blog post for the next day / later in the week.

1:00 blog post for the day goes live– so I like to post on
stories letting readers know with a swipe up to check it out

1:30 check editorial calendar for the month and make sure
we are on pace for posting, edit and link Instagram posts
for tomorrow so they are ready to go and plan anything
else for the next day (shoot, collabs, posts, newsletter)

2:00 respond to comments and DMs on Instagram, follow
up with any brands on upcoming collaborations, invoices,
contracts… etc.

2:30 back to working on the blog post for the next day,
with the posts for stories, Instagram and newsletter

4:00 if I have a photoshoot, this is usually when it’s done…
I have already picked out the location and looks the day
before so everything is ready to go when the time rolls
around! I usually do this on Mondays, unless a last
minute campaign pops up

5:00 quitting time! As I mentioned earlier I like to be
done when Sam is so we can have time together! We’ll
usually take B for a walk around our neighborhood

6:30 dinner

8:00 publish another Instagram post mentioning the
blog post that went live that day, clean up around the
house, put away laundry… etc #wifelife

9:00 shower + get ready for bed

9:30 S and I watch an episode of whatever series
we’re into at the moment *currently: scandal*

10:30/11 off to bed