It’s a Sunday, and Sundays are strangely one of the busiest days of my week. It’s 8:00am now, and today, I plan to do the following tasks: meet for Miss Donki, review for the GMAT, do my monthly restart (shared in another blog), edit a graphic design commission, and bathe my dog, Doogie.
Today, I wanted to share the a typical day in my life as a student/small business owner, specifically the highlights of my day, some strategies I use to work efficiently, and just some small learnings that could be helpful to other people.
MY MORNING ROUTINE
Every morning, I spend at least 1.5 hours on my morning ritual, usually from 6:30am to 8:00am. I can’t stress enough how integral this time of the day is for me. Notifications are off, social media is unavailable – it’s just me and the present. There are days when I sleep in (such as today), regardless I can’t go through a day without these bare minimum rituals:
- Getting ready (with my skincare essentials)
- Feeding, playing with and cleaning up my dog
- Journaling random thoughts on my Notion
- Planning my day with Notion
- Checking urgent tasks for our small online shop
On disciplined days though, some good-to-haves that make me happy and feel productive are:
- Reading on my iPad
- Meditating with Timer
- Researching on investments aka my ‘finance’ time
- Thinking of what I’m going to eat for lunch 😀
PLANNING & TIMEBLOCKING
I purposely separated time blocking as another bullet even if it technically still is part of my morning ritual, since it’s honestly the /highlight/ of my day.
When I was working in corpo, one thing I struggled with was urgent tasks and random meetings popping up. The time spent for mind heavy tasks would reduce, and I usually resorted to procrastination. I only started time-blocking around April, and it’s been an effective strategy since. I simply write each hour of the day, then a corresponding major task that needs to be accomplished for that specific time.
The process of planning for me goes:
- Plan my weekly to-do’s (Personal & Work) on Notion
- Plan my daily to-do’s on Notion
- Timeblock on a notepad/piece of paper
- Check off the rest of my morning rituals I was able to do that morning
A few realisations:
- I don’t necessarily stick to my time-blocking, but it’s nice having a schedule to follow
- I time-block my mind heavy tasks during my peak hours which is from 8am to 10am (which is why I wake up early in the first place)
- If I am unable to accomplish a task after the time has passed, that’s the only time I move that task to the next day/s. This also allows me to gauge how much I overestimate my capacity to accomplish small to big tasks.
- My secret: I take 15 minute breaks each hour. Countless of gurus praise ‘break-time’ and I concur. Taking breaks (even naps lol) is an effective way for me to regain my productivity especially in the afternoon. Though, I still have working lunches, I try to avoid it more. I used to feel bad for taking breaks back when I was in corpo, now I see it as something very essential for effectivity.
A STUDENT AGAIN
You heard it right. I’ve been studying, this time for the GMAT exam. I’ll probably share more about my GMAT experience later on, but esentially, I spend my whole morning reviewing for it for not more than 4 hours a day (sometimes including the weekend).
BUSINESS AS USUAL
I also have a small online shop called Miss Donki focusing on Japanese products with my best friends (hi to Jul and Sopi). This takes up my afternoons and, our meetings on Sunday mornings. We sell Japanese snacks, sweets, instant food, and even skin and health care products. I didn’t intend to plug this in, but it’s honestly a huge chunk of my day to day.
THE FUN BITS
Today I worked out, played with the pup, did some graphic-design work, made coffee, and cooked my lunch. My favorite past times though, would still be having photoshoots and writing my blogs. 🙂
I had a haircut recently
If PNoy taught me anything it’s that life’s fleeting so just enjoy! Even if you’re stuck at home, there’s a lot you can do. 🙂
Since I woke up late today, I was not able to finish everything on my to-do list, and had to move some tasks to next week (guess who overestimated herself) at the end of the day. I’m also afraid I won’t be able to show what goes behind the scenes: my dog barking at me 😦 or me cleaning up after he does his business, my night calls with JM, conversations with my parents.
But this is what my day to day looks like for now. A mix between business, study, and personal development. Comment below what your typical day looks like!
RESOURCES MENTIONED!
- Check out my Notion Template on how I plan my weekly/daily tasks, as well as track my morning habits. I already made a template for next week, so feel free to use it. (Credits to Sopi aka tofudesigns cause the original version of this was adapted from her template when I was starting out with Notion)
- I like to use this Meditation App called Insight Timer, which has a lot of free guided meditations
- Miss Donki: where Japan awaits you! Facebook | Instagram | Order Form
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