A Monday In The Life Of A Writer

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My timer is this Sears Roebuck and Co. timer from the '60s.

This post is about an average day in my life as a small business owner/writer/caregiver/household manager. No two days are the same, but some elements are constant.

03h30 - Have run out of sleep. Got out of  bed but couldn't remember why I wanted to get up early. Drank a glass of water, stumbled around the house a bit and then went back to bed. (P.S. After reviewing my day for this post, I can see why I need to get up early. It's so I have time to write while it's still quiet, before everyone else is awake. I'll need to be more prepared for a more productive morning tomorrow.)

06h00 - Aah! That's much better. Made a mug of tea and sat in the verandah to watch the sun rise. A couple of kids walked past going to school. To early for school, I think.

06h30 - Read online papers. Wrote 300 words on a piece of fiction I'm working on.

07h10 - Another cup of tea. Cooked oats for breakfast and ate. Tidied own bedroom. Went back to computer. Made "to do" list for the day. Measured window length for curtain rails in diningroom and then woke up nephew to send him to store to get them.

08h10 - Emails. Mma awake and watching news. Got her washed, dressed, fed and medicated, then showered, dressed.  She's lost a bit of weight, but that's good, as the doc was not too happy with her weight. Tidied Mma's room.

10h00 - Back to the desk. Turned my "Maid of Honour Timer" on. The timer helps divide my time into manageable bits. The breakdown is: write for 45 minutes, check Mma to make sure she's OK, then write for another 45 minutes etc. It also reminds me that time is flying past and I need to productive during the available hours. Start by reading material that will guide a client thought leadership piece, taking notes by hand. Naartjies for Mma and I around 11h00.

12h30 - Met young man from the village about his career plans. He's in his late tweties, and I went to school with his mother and he just rocked up at my office needing to talk. He wants to quit his job and run his part-time business as a fulltime proposition. However, his savings are tiny. We agreed he needed to have a bigger cash reserve before he can quit. AND, he needs a business plan, showing how he plans to grow his business  He seemed happy when he left, even though he has to wait another 6 months to a year and live like a Spartan before he can work his business fulltime.

13h00 - Lunch for 5. Thank God it's mostly leftovers! So I just had to warm the spaghetti and sauce and make a green salad.

13h40 - Drafted a couple of exercises for a client course module at 45 minute intervals. Spent 15 minute break writing character reference for Baby. She is still job-hunting and a chain store recently asked her about her wage expectations.

14h28 - Showed helper how to make green salad for Mma's afternoon snack. She's new (a month), and still getting to know us and what we like. Nephew arrives with rails.

14h50 - Drafted this blog post.

15h20 - Started drafting 800-word thought leadership piece for a client.

My day is far from over, but you get the picture of what my writing day sometimes looks like.  What's you typical day like? Assuming your days have some kind of routine and you have what passes for a typical day:-)

Update:  

17h45: My nephew decided to cook dinner, so I'm off the hook. And it finally rained. Our region has such a bad drought that we are facing water restrictions. So I'm happy ( and my garden is happy ) that rain is finally here.