A Day In the Life
A friend of mine and I used to share what all we did in a single morning when we had young children at home. My days are less packed now, but still I thought I’d try the “day in the life” exercise that’s being coordinated over at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity.
7:30: wake up, drink a cup of tea and eat cereal, read e-mail, facebook, tumblr, blogs.
8:30: shower and dress
9:30: at desk in living room. Send a reminder e-mail asking for recommendations to get student workers for next year and send application link and information to students who have already been recommended. Print completed applications and read writing samples online.
11: look at reading assigned for today’s class and come up with a plan for the class.
12: finish class planning while eating sandwich at table in dining room.
12:30: take car out to fill with gas, return library books, buy cat food.
1:45: arrive at office in Writing Center. Water plants, refill chocolate kisses, walk back into the library to make copies for class.
2:00: read e-mail, reply to students asking about special circumstances for applying, read writing samples online, exchange texts with my mother.
3:10: walk over to art gallery to teach class. Only four people in class this semester, people who were overseas last fall.
4: walk back over to Writing Center, which opens at 4. Answer a question from someone who is working. Go into office and reply to an e-mail. Gather papers needed for tomorrow’s meeting with Associate Provost and Writing Center Faculty Advisor, and leave office.
4:30: drive to pool, change into suit.
5: water aerobics
6:15: drive home.
6:30: change clothes, have a glass of wine, and decide with Ron about what to warm up for supper.
6:45: eat downstairs while watching one episode of Breaking Bad and one of Elementary.
8:15: come upstairs, clean up dishes, put in load of laundry, read, pet cats, check e-mail.
10: begin process of walking around checking to see what needs to be done before tomorrow. Put laundry in drier. Set dishwasher to run. Make a note about checking on hotel reservation for Eleanor’s college graduation in May.
10:30: read in bed.
You can see why I say I don’t work just part-time. Sometimes I manage to spend morning time at my desk at home writing a blog post, but the immediacy of replying to hiring e-mails and needing something to say to a class that same afternoon can crowd out time for writing and musing.
What’s a day in your life like? Do you wish you could make more time for anything?
Necromancy Never Pays 
I really enjoyed reading a day in your life – what a nice idea! I often yearn for a clone – before the writing addiction had me by the throat, I used to cook and dust the house occasionally… Maybe even hoover once in a while. But REALLY, I’d like an editing clone…
Writing is a daily thing. Dusting and vacuuming–weekly, at most, if you ask me!
Oh absolutely. I used to have a LARGE sign in the kitchen. DULL WOMEN HAVE IMMACULATE HOUSES… Nuff said.
Now I know what my next blog post will be about.
Glad you like the idea.
Yay you for getting that water aerobics into your already busy day.
I started in November and discovered I like it. Before this class, I had never tried making the time to exercise after work and before dinner.
I got stuck at the part about refilling the chocolate kisses. LOL
Water aerobics. Fun! Love hearing about everyone’s day.
LOL…me, too. It was like “Chocolate kisses for the win!”
Writers need chocolate, so I keep a stock of kisses in the Writing Center for the students who come in.
I can’t check social media anything until I get to work or I will leave the house too late. Even when I say… just five minutes I end up answering comments or signing up for a read along. LOL.
Since morning is my own time, I haven’t worried about how much time I’m taking…although I might get more blog posts written if I stuck to more of a schedule!
I can definitely see why you don’t say you work part time. That’s a lot going on! I’d love to do water aerobics and good for you for getting that into what sounds like a pretty hectic day!
Thanks for the validation! I have a friend who says there’s no such thing as part-time work, just part-time pay.
I’m like Ti–I’ve got to stay offline until I get into the office. And I CAN see why you don’t just say you work part-time!
It does give me flexibility with my hours. That’s the good part.
I know what you mean about those immediate needs crowding out what you’d rather do. I work in an office all day, but it happens there, too. I can have a task that’s supposed to take three hours, but other issues often crop up causing it to take twice as long. And then there are the days when my brain just isn’t in it, and I have to decide whether to press on anyway or find something mindless to work on and postpone the more serious task. (I had one of those days today. Luckily, I could postpone the brain work and tidy up my e-mail instead.)
I had to miss both my water aerobics classes this week. Such a bummer.
I know how to confound the sense of immediate needs by setting personal deadlines, but haven’t done that in a while. Now that I feel like I’m working past what is required and most things at work are as new and improved as they’re going to get, I may think about setting personal deadlines again.
I had such a busy week scheduled (unusually going out every single night) I didn’t sign up for Bloggiesta, but I’m enjoying reading the posts about everyone’s days! I miss working part-time, but my library job back then didn’t bleed into the rest of my time. I find that if too many days pile up when I don’t read at all until going to bed at 10 or 10:30, I get too stressed, so sometimes now I read in the morning before work!
I agree, it’s not enough to read only before bedtime. I also have some time for reading earlier in the evening.
It is so hard to make time for everything I want to do — especially time for writing and musing. Some mornings completely fill up with email and blog comments and other things that need to be done.
It is easy to let mornings fill up. I guess at some point one has to decide to be selfish.
I thought when I started reading all of these A Day in The Life that I was going to be reading about all full-time jobs. It’s nice to see the part-time jobbers ? represented here too, even though it doesn’t always feel like a part-time job. I work part-time at a library.
Working part-time does leave you ideally poised for blogging, doesn’t it?
I think a job that’s supposed to be part time, but that involves responding and addressing concerns from others, can easily morph into a lot more time. I’m glad you still found time in the day for exercise and relaxing — thanks for sharing!
So true–sometimes when Ron and I check our e-mail, we call it “putting out fires.”
A part-time job never is really part time, is it? 🙂
Not in my experience. I’m hoping that when I leave my present job, they’ll hire two full-time people to replace me. That actually happened to me one time when I left a job as a typist for a civil engineering firm, back in Maryland.
Discovered you from the the link up but pretty sure I’ve heard of your blog name before. It’s awesome. Water aerobics is something I would love to try, but no local pool. It seems like a fun way to work out.
anyways, nice to meet you!
So glad you like my cautionary blog name!
There are several local pools, but the one I’ve settled on is the warmest. I love that.
I’ve so enjoyed reading these day in the life posts and am glad you participated too! I wish I lived near a pool as I would love to do water aerobics. I’m not sure it when I would do it now, but I like the idea of it. 🙂
This water aerobics class is run by the local hospital, at what they call the center for rehabilitation and wellness. More communities are starting to offer such things.
That sounds like way more than a part time job to me!
Thank you! More validation!
Jobs are never part-time if you do them well. 🙂
Yes, there’s something to that.
I wish I had more time for many things although I do some how create a crazy balance of work and friends and non profit commitments.
Good point about balance. I’m still feeling that my days aren’t balanced the way I’d like them to be, in the wake of my kids going off.
You are very productive! I wouldn’t dare write out my day; it involves way too much messing around online and staring into the middle distance… 🙂
I would sum up the “staring into the middle distance” as “writing.”
Most of my weekdays are eaten up by work. Afterward its time with the daughter and the things she needs and wants and spending time with her and hubby. Reading/writing, etc. all take a back seat.
I think when my children were younger and I was spending time playing with them and then chauffeuring them around, I used some of the time to think about what I was going to write when I got a moment. Now I think about work or other things, and I’ve been writing less.
I love that you’re in charge of refilling the kisses. 🙂 And I agree-seems incredibly productive! I admit that sometimes the social stuff (drafting a post/leaving a comment) distracts me a bit from work. 😉 At least on days when I don’t have much going on. Thanks for sharing your time with us Jeanne!
Thanks for organizing us, Trish!
if I could wish for time for something it would be time for a run before i have to pick everyone up after work.
I never even knew to wish for time for exercise in the late afternoon, but it is the best time. Some day your kids will go off to college and you can reclaim it.
A very productive day!
Every day is, when one is part-time!
I love these glimpses into everyone’s lives! It’s fun to see how everyone does it. You’re making me want to do water aerobics too.
Water exercise is the best kind for the clumsy and weak of knee.