One post that I always get requests for is a “Day in the Life” post. I’ve shared these in the past (2018 here, 2017 here), but so much has changed since I shared those days. And with our baby girl arriving later this spring, I figured I should share what a day looks like now before my schedule is rocked upside down! I even convinced Finn to join in on the fun and next week he’ll be sharing his “Day in the Life 2020” showcasing how he juggles a full-time job and helping me with the blog.

I’m someone who thrives on routine and order, so having a job that is a bit all over the place can be a struggle. Luckily, I’ve figured out how to make it work for me. Here are some tips I’ve shared about working from home and here’s another one about how I plan my week as a full-time blogger. These are both great posts if you’re also someone who thrives in an organized environment!

A Day in the Life of Casey

Today, let’s dive into a random weekday for me. My days are constantly changing, but this is what a typical Tuesday would look like for me.

Rise & Shine

7:00 am: My alarm goes off and I jump out of bed. I’m not one to hit the snooze button. When I’m up, I’m up. I try to get up around 7:00 am every morning but if I’m working out in our basement I’ll get up around 6:30 am, or if we had a later night I might sleep in a little longer. It’s a luxury that I don’t have to be at an office at a set time every day, and I’m so grateful for my flexible mornings.

I head to the bathroom and get ready for the day. I wash my face, brush my teeth, put a few curls in my hair (I showered and washed it yesterday), and swipe on some makeup. I usually just put on some concealer, mascara, and bronzer since most people don’t see me (except you guys on Instagram stories!). I’ve found that getting ready for the day makes me much more productive, even though I work from home.

7:30 am: I head downstairs to our living room and open up all of the blinds to let the sunshine in. I turn on the TODAY show, fluff up the couch pillows, and do a general sweep of the living room and kitchen to make sure everything is looking good. I also empty the dishwasher and wipe down the countertops.

Finn food preps on Sundays and he made me a veggie frittata for the week. I heat that up and add some avocado and salsa to it. I pour myself a glass of water to wash down all of my morning supplements. I also sip on the green juice I’ve been craving every morning. It’s a bit tart and is packed full of veggies, so I feel like I’m having a good start to my day.

As I eat my breakfast, I hop on the computer and clean up my personal and the Playbook email inboxes. I make sure the daily post went up and looks good on both desktop and mobile. I then share the post on Facebook, Instagram stories, and Pinterest. I also respond to direct messages and any comments on yesterday’s blog post and Instagram post.

8:00 am: Finn comes down the stairs and we do our morning shot. I’m on a blood thinner (Lovenox) every morning for my pregnancy and we have to inject it into my stomach. After three years of this, Finn has gotten so good at administering shots. He always gets it all out and ready for me and I just present my belly to him! Because my bump is getting bigger, I’ve now switched to my love handle areas for the shots. This has led to more bruising for me, so my stomach is a bit purple. It’s not the cutest, but it’s all so very worth it!

I give Finn a kiss goodbye and he heads off to work. When he leaves, I go upstairs and tidy up our room. I’m the kind of person who has to make the bed every day. I also open up the blinds in the room, put any laundry in our hampers, and make sure everything on our second level is where it’s supposed to be. I find that it’s hard for me to sit down to work if the house is a mess, so taking some time in the morning to get every room in order is very helpful for me. Anyone else like this?

Get to Work

8:30 am: Because we’re in the midst of our office renovation, I’ve been working at the island in our kitchen. Our stools are actually super comfy, so it’s not a bad place to work. I turn on our Sonos and listen to the Spotify playlist “Nancy Meyers’ Kitchen.” You guys shared so many great playlist recs with me in this post, but I find myself going back to this playlist over and over again. I like to have some music on in the background while working away.

I used to use a large whiteboard to plan out my week, but last year I switched to Trello. I love it so much because I can access it from anywhere…on my phone or desktop. Plus, it’s easy to move tasks around if I don’t get something accomplished and need to roll it over into the next day. I reserve Friday afternoons for planning my week ahead (more on how I do that here), that way I always have a set list of tasks for that particular workday. If I just sat down and tried to work without this, I don’t think I would accomplish very much! I’d say I work about 9-11 hour days Monday through Friday. Then, on the weekends we usually DIY for up to 8 hours on Saturday and I get about 4 hours of computer work done on Sundays. It’s a lot, but I love it.

I like to write blog posts in the morning because I find that’s when I get my best work done. I try to work about two weeks ahead on my editorial calendar, so this morning I’m writing a post that will go live in two weeks. It’s about the furniture I chose for our office makeover. I already have all of the photos and assets I need, so it takes me about an hour and a half to get the post written. My mom is the official “Playbook Editor”, so when I’m finished with the post I send her an email to review it when she has time. She is the best editor ever and prevents lots of typos around here.

10:00 am: After sitting for so long, I get up to do an Instagram story about the daily post. I always like to hop on there to talk about the daily blog post and provide a behind-the-scenes look for my followers. Today’s post is about our office built-ins, so I do a quick tour of the room, showcasing the progress we’ve made. It’s a good way to get more people to read the post and I can answer any direct questions right there on Instagram.

10:30 am: I have a conference call with a brand I’m partnering with for our upcoming nursery design. We chat about the deliverables for the sponsored blog posts I’ll be posting and review the dates my posts will publish. I always find that it’s easier to hop on the phone with someone instead of going back and forth with email 100x.

11:00 am: I’m starving, so I scarf down a banana to tide me over until lunchtime. My contractor, Patrik, then stops by to take a few measurements in the nursery. His team will be installing the built-ins in there, so we review the plans and finalize the date for the installation (the cabinets arrive next week!).

When he leaves, I sit down to work on sourcing a few items for the nursery. I’m on the hunt for a large vintage rug for the room, along with a chandelier. I peruse my go-to online sources, making a big list of potential winners for the space. I take some measurements up there to narrow things down even more, and then put a reminder on my Trello board to show Finn the options later tonight. He usually lets me run with a design, but I like to run things by him first.

Lunch Time

12:15 pm: I’ve been craving salads during this pregnancy. Fresh and crunchy sounds so good! There’s this one salad from a restaurant in my hometown (Gaston’s) that I want all the time. I’ve been doing my best to recreate it, and while it isn’t the same, it gets the job done! This salad includes a spring mix, walnuts, cherry tomatoes, bleu cheese (pasteurized, don’t worry), sliced pears, and chicken tossed in a sesame ginger dressing. While I don’t cook, I can easily chop a few items and toss them together.

I sit down with my lunch and take some time responding to comments on the blog and social. I also read a few of my favorite blogs and save a few links to my favorite articles to share in the upcoming Break Room post. A brand sends over a contract for review, so I spend about ten minutes looking through it to make sure we’re all on the same page.

Say Cheese!

1:00 pm: I try to “batch task” my work to be more efficient with my time. I have to take some photos for upcoming blog posts, so I try to get them all done in one swoop. I get out my camera, lens, and tripod (you can find all of my photography equipment here) and then I move around the house capturing the shots I need to capture. I always try to have some fresh, pretty shots of my home for Instagram, so I spend some time styling, fluffing pillows, and moving things out of the way to gather the perfect shot.

Today, I’m also getting a few pictures with me in them. This is always tricky since I’m a one-man-band and don’t have someone around to take those pics. I set up the shot on my tripod and then use this remote control to snap the pictures. I usually move around and take a lot because you never know what might work. I’ve really come to love photography over the last seven years. I’m certainly no pro, but it’s a great skill to have and I’m excited I’ll be able to take photos of our baby girl.

Whenever I’m working on a project or taking photos, I try to get some behind-the-scenes videos and pictures for Instagram stories. It’s easy for me to forget to do this, but I’m trying to be better!

3:00 pm: I sit down and upload all of the photos to my computer to edit. I use Lightroom to edit pictures (tutorial here) and it takes me a bit of time to get them all edited, organized into folders on my desktop, uploaded to WordPress, and saved on my hard drive. I also airdrop a few of my favorite pics to my phone to save for Instagram.

4:30 pm: I take some time at the end of the day to clean up my inbox, respond to comments, and prep for the day ahead while munching on trail mix. Finn and I have more DIY projects on the books this weekend, and tomorrow evening we’ll be heading to Lowe’s to buy supplies. So, I review the steps for our upcoming project, make a supply list of things we need to get and send a reminder to his calendar that we’ll be shopping tomorrow.

Prenatal Yoga

5:45 pm: I look at the clock and realize I’ve gotta throw on some workout clothes if I’m going to make it to yoga class. Luckily, it’s a three-minute drive from my house so I make it in time.

6:00 pm: I’ve been doing prenatal yoga once a week throughout my pregnancy and I love it (I go to  Wildlight Yoga if you’re local!). It isn’t the hardest class in the world (I don’t get that sweaty…), but I love stretching and taking time to connect with my baby.

7:15 pm: I head home from yoga and find that Finn has just walked through the door. He often works even later than this (he will share more about his schedule next week!), so I’m so happy to see his face when I get home. We catch up on our days as he heats up some of the food he prepped on Sunday (I’m telling ya, meal prep saves us!). We eat roasted broccoli, sweet potatoes, and chicken and I pour some marinara all over mine. Yum.

8:00 pm: We head to the couch and catch up on TV. We both love the show New Amsterdam, so we watch the latest episode that we recorded. I sneak off to the pantry to find any sort of sour candy we have on hand (I’m wanting allll the sour stuff these days). I’m happy to find we stocked up on sour gummy bears on our weekend trip to the grocery store, so I munch on those while we watch TV (and I also answer comments on Instagram during the show).

Good Night

9:30 pm: I head upstairs to bed to do some reading. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of parenting/baby books. I’m currently reading The Confident Parent and really digging it.

10:00 pm: I text Finn to come put me to bed (hahaha, I used to be able to shout for him in our old condo but our house is too big now!). He comes up, puts on our white noise machine and humidifier, shuts the curtains, and tucks me in. He tucks me in every night and it’s the best way to end my day. I cuddle up with my pregnancy body pillow (I may never be able to quit this thing!) and drift off within minutes.

There you have it…my day in the life 2020!

Casey