8 am: Still very much asleep, lying facedown in my unmade bed, tangled in the sheets
9 am: Still in a sleep-wake state, now lying on my side, trying to get some more sleep.
But before I'd ruin your rose-colored view on my profession, allow me a little bit of explanation.
I am a full-time financial journalist but believe it or not, my day starts slower than expected.
Usually still asleep until past 10 in the morning, I only get up to take a pee. It is my earliest hour to be honest. This journalist usually sleeps in until noon. And sometimes, until 2 p.m., no kidding.
I am not going to justify my seemingly bad habit, but truth be told, night owls rarely go to bed at midnight. So, what do you expect?
For me, late nights are made for fiction writing. My pen bleeds, so to speak, until the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully, apps such as "Notebook" are now downloadable for free. I never have to tap away on the keyboard of my desktop or laptop sitting down any more. I have the luxury of lying down in bed using only my thumbs to flesh out characters in my manuscript and easily post the new update on Wattpad after.
Sounds like a lazy day, huh?
Don't get too comfortable with it. The only reason I can afford to live a laidback lifestyle is because I work for an international company and needless to say, my work schedule follows the time zone where it is located. My work (news editing) as a financial editor does not start until 3 in the afternoon when my schedule starts. I have a 1 hr break to take dinner and continue through financial articles until midnight. But my day does not end at this point. Like a bulb that lights up in your brain when a great idea pops up, my muse gets activated at this hour, too. When it does, things get more exciting in my fiction writing as well and my day extends for more hours deeper into the night.
Not many people may know but my muse is pretty much active late at night when ideas come together without effort and takes me to a level of flow. In fact, the latest that I have gone to bed in my entire life was 8 a.m.
Now, beat that!
Going back, let's assume all things were still normal and my morning routine has not changed. 'Cause what I have written above pretty much covers my Work-From-Home Day In The Life Of A Journo.
I am not fond of routine, but I follow a 3-to 4-hour prep that includes:
1. waking up at 8 a. m. (which includes a 30-minute reflection and day-planning to fully wake up before rolling out of bed)
2. 5-10-minute exercise/dance workout,
3. getting breakfast,
4. cooking for my lunch and dinner (yep I prefer to eat healthier food that are home-cooked),
5. doing the chores and some cleaning-up
6. taking a shower and dressing up,
7. travel time to work.
I hate being late, so I leave home at 12 noon or 12:30 p.m. to arrive 1 hour before my work starts at 3 p.m. Metro Manila (National Capital Region), the capital of the Philippines, is known for its worst traffic problem, so I allot at least 2 hours for travel time and 3 hours at the most. You can actually get stuck in traffic for 2 hours, no kidding! Since I live one hour away from where I work, 2 hours allotted for travel time is enough and 3 hours is even better. (to be continued)
Comments