It hit me yesterday, on my 28th birthday, that I am now an adult. Well, I guess it hit me a couple of years ago. Actually, scratch that. I didn’t feel like a real adult until I moved out of my parents house, had to buy my own groceries and start budgeting my paychecks. THAT’S when I felt like an adult.
And last night, I realized that, much like an adult, I have a daily routine. And as I thought back, I realized that my life has been one big routine since I graduated with my Masters degree (in a good way of course!) Of course, my various routines have definitely shifted a bit as the years go by. Instead of morning coffee and TV, it’s now a morning run/stretching/water. Instead of quick and easy dinners of takeout pizza and subs, it’s… well, sometimes still takeout, but we always try for salads now! And instead of being up until all hours of the night, even on the weekends, it’s a bedtime of about 8 PM (on school nights) and 11 PM (if we make it there!) on weekends.
As I thought more about it, I have a very set routine…. every. single. day.
5:20 AM: Wake up, stare at the clock. Awake before my alarm, per usual. Grab my cell phone. Look at notifications on the lock screen. Unlock. Check Facebook notifications. Check Instagram for any notifications. Check e-mail super quick and try not to respond to anything while I’m still half asleep.
5:30 AM: Crawl out of bed, stretch, and meander around my apartment. Usually I’m trying to locate where my running shoes, my HRM, and headphones are.
5:45 AM: Head out to run the neighborhood.
6:15 AM: Drag myself in from my run. I either a) go in the living room and do some abs/squats/planks/foam roll for 15 minutes or b) jump right in the shower and zone out. There is not routine to this. This just happens based on how I may feel that day.
6:40(ish) AM – 7:15 AM: Check Facebook. Watch the news. Check my e-mail (again). Check Instagram and scroll through everything I missed overnight. Check the Barnes & Noble Nook Book Deal of the Day. Read the local news (The regional news or Good Morning America is usually on the TV). Check out the celebrity gossip magazines. Think about breakfast. Realize I’m starving. Continue to sit.
Sometimes depending on what’s been going on, I will also prepare some blog posts or edit some photos from recent shoots.
7:15 AM – 7:30 AM: Get ready for work. And by get ready I mean, throw clothes on, clip my hair up… and sometimes put makeup on. And then I usually run around the apartment gathering everything I need for the day (chargers, headphones, iPad, etc.)
7:30 AM: until I leave for work (usually by 8 AM): I usually stand in the center of my kitchen for a solid 2 minutes trying to determine what to bring for food with me. And I’m serious when I say stand in the center of my kitchen. Once I figure out, I pack everything up and out the door I go.
8:00 AM – 8:30 AM: Drive to work. It takes me 10 minutes to get to work, so this takes into account if I leave a little bit past 8. Sometimes I stop for coffee. Sometimes I run errands on my way. Either way, I’m at work by 8:30 AM every day.
8:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Work. Work. Work.
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Lunch time! Sometimes I walk at lunch, depending on the weather, sometimes I read, sometimes I get some blog posts created, but most of the time I eat and work. I’m plenty busy enough to get things done while I eat too!
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Work. Work. Work.
5:00 PM – 5:20 PM: Head back to the homestead. Fiance is already home. We usually go back and forth at least 6 times before I get in the doorway about dinner. I usually call my parents and check in too while driving.
5:20 PM: Home again! Time to figure out dinner. We’ve been better about cooking/making things we already have… but sometimes we still go get grilled buffalo chicken salads from our favorite neighborhood pizza shop!
5:45 PM – 8:00 PM: Eat dinner. Check e-mails. Faceb0ok. Instagram. Watch an episode or two of our shows. Edit photos (if I have any to edit). Read a book. Spend time together.
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM: My bed is calling my name. In bed I go, reading until I can’t keep my eyes open anymore.
9:00 PM – 5:20 AM : Sleep until it’s time to do it all over again!
Exceptions to this routine include:
Riding: Tuesday night adult group every other Tuesday
Dinner out: With my parents, with the fiance, with friends…
The Weekends: Totally different routine on Saturday and Sunday, and Friday nights.
Positive thing to note: I currently love my routine. It fits me… and I’m sticking to it.
