My Daily Routine

Starting a full time job after graduating college this spring has meant that up until now, I didn’t have a stable routine for my day to day.

I have only been able to have a normal weekly routine for my Monday-Friday as of recent. Granted, my weekends are all over the place but once the summer chills out, my weekends will have more freedom too.

A New Job!

My full time software engineering job is what takes up most of my time during the day but my mornings and evenings are my own. And with such flexibility from my job, there are options for how I work throughout the week. For instance, I am allowed to be out of the office 2 days a week. I also need to complete 40 hours of work in a week but that does not mean 8 hours every day.

Lately, I have been working about 9 hours Monday-Thursday in the office. This allows me to finish my 40 hours with the remaining ~4 hours from home on Friday. I have been traveling a lot and with this schedule; I can leave Friday afternoon for my weekend trip. This allows for so much flexibility and still plenty of opportunity to show dedication to my work when needed/desired. Monday through Thursday has turned into my “weekdays”, Friday became my “wrap-up day”, and the weekend remains as the “weekend”.

With all that said, my weekday routine has been looking somewhat like this:

Pre-Work Routine

6:30 AM

I'm reminded every morning that we need blackout curtains if I want to ever sleep in on the weekend. The sun comes up fairly early and is super bright even through our west-facing windows

I will roll out of bed and head over to the bathroom to begin my morning routine. I just splash my face with some cold water, and brush my hair out from sleeping on it.

6:45 AM

Will likes to make breakfast in the morning and by this time he is back from the gym and ready to start the day. One of my favorite breakfast items that he makes are breakfast quesadillas. He's been making these since we were in college and first dating so there’s a little bit of nostalgia.

7:10 AM

By now we’re done with breakfast and I move on to packing my lunch. I normally bring a ham sandwich or something easy. I tend to eat lunch at my desk during the day and work through my lunch. No need for any fuss with the fridge or microwave if I can avoid it.

7:20 AM

Now that lunch is made, I can get ready for work. Being an engineer and working at a fairly “chill” location, I am offered lots of flexibility on work outfits. The office is kept at 65° F, so I prefer nice denim and a blouse with either my black flats or my white Adidas’s. I also keep a sweater at the office so I don’t freeze. (I get cold very easily)

All that’s left is any hair touch ups, my makeup, and any jewelry for the day. My make up tends to be only mascara most of the time. Fairly easy.

7:40 AM

At this point, I am packing my bag up and about to head out the door. Before I leave I always check the weather to make sure there’s no need for an umbrella or raincoat. Then I’m heading to my car.

It’s an easy 10-15 drive to work for me and I’ll walk in just before I want to start work.

Work Routine

8:00 AM

By now I’m at my desk and getting my task’s organized for the day. If anything wasn’t resolved the day before, that becomes item number one. I work within a team of 20 or so computer/software/electrical engineers and we do a good job of helping each other out when it comes to project development.

I will work for a few hours with small walking breaks to the water fountain or to another coworker’s desk so I don’t stay stationary for too long.

Around noon I will get my lunch out and slowly start to munch on it as I continue on my work. And then the same pattern continues for the afternoon with meetings scattered around.

5:00 PM

Around now, I log the hours I worked and a short description of what I did in the system. Once that is done, I turn off my laptop and put it back in my bag and head home.

Post-Work Routine

5:20 PM

Walking back into the apartment, chances are I talked to Will on the drive home and we already decided on dinner. Either he has already started it or he is wrapping up his own work and then we start prepping it together.

During the dinner prep, I also clean out my lunch box and get any containers cleaned.

We like to have some snack type of item out while we are cooking so we don’t get too hungry while waiting for the food to cook. (It is more for me than him, haha). A lot of the time this is a cheese and cracker type of snack, and at this point I should just get a customized “pre dinner charcuterie” board.

6:30 PM

Around this time is when we sit down for dinner together. While we eat, we share stories from our days and talk about what we’re looking forward to for the weekend or even just the rest of the week.

Lately we have had some wedding conversations mixed in there so we can slowly chip away at planning that but not diving all the way into it.

7:30 PM

Now the dishes get washed or put in the dishwasher and we both go into the office to decompress. (Aka video game/writing time).

10:30 PM

After gaming or writing for a little while, now it’s time to get ready for bed. If a shower is needed, I take one and dry my hair as much as possible before laying on my pillow.

I like to journal a bit or read for a little before turning the light off around 11pm and calling it a night.

The Benefits

This routine works for me based on the amount of sleep I benefit from and the amount of work each day keeps my weekends flexible.

Writing out this post actually benefited me a lot too. This shows me just how much time I am actually allowing myself each evening for free time after work. Honestly, at first I was startled by how much time I actually have, and now with that in mind, I have been more productive overall.

So now we finished walking through my average workday. Some friends and family were concerned that the hours I am working, will burn me out. Being honest, I don’t see myself doing that consistently. It just allows for a good and flexible way to start any weekend trips that I have scheduled this summer. That way I don’t have to work remotely from the location I am going to and I can be fully unplugged from work while I am traveling.

I am excited for how my routine changes throughout this next year as I go through multiple seasons in this new position. 🙂