What does a day in the life look like for someone who doesn’t work a traditional 9-5 corporate job? Well, we’ve all seen the work from home memes of people in sweatpants, starting work from their bed at 10am. And while I say rock on to those people, I personally can’t live without some semblance of a daily routine. I’ve been self-employed for about one year now, and this is the overarching routine I’ve created for myself:

8am: Wake Up

My husband wakes up at 7:30 and I wake up at 8. I get dressed (in real clothes!), brush my teeth and hair, and make coffee. I try to drink at least a little water too and eat an acai bowl for breakfast before 10am so I don’t get hangry.

8:20am: Sit down at my desk

First, I check my email and answer anything pressing. This takes a few minutes and sort of warms up my brain before I open up any Google Doc to write copy. But soon enough, it’s go time! I spend the next 4(ish) hours writing whatever copy project is on the docket for that day. This is definitely my time of best creative focus and flow. Fun fact: It’s been proven that most people can’t be creative for more than four hours a way.

12:00pm: Lunch

My husband works from home too, so we make lunch together around 12 and watch a show while we eat (Parks and Rec is our all time favorite). This is a chance for me to turn off my writing brain and just relax/reset before my next work session.

1:00-4:00pm: Writing and Admin Tasks

Now is the time to finish up any copywriting that’s due that day or in the coming days. Go go go! Then I work on any other business related admin tasks such as writing blog posts, writing captions or emails, updating clients on projects, looking at my expenses, etc. These types of less intensive tasks help me wind down for the day before I sign off.

4:00-6:00pm: Errands and Exercise

By 4:00pm, my work brain is pretty much shot. People don’t need to work for 8 hours a day! That’s just a weird cultural expectation that I say needs to go in the waste bin. Now I’ll run errands or exercise on my stationary bike until my husband gets off work at 5pm and we can hangout a bit.

6:00-10:00pm: Dinner, Netflix, and Chill

We’ll cook dinner together and watch a show or a movie (or do anything else we have on the calendar that evening such as visiting family or friends). I go to bed pretty early—I’m a huge fan of sleep—so I’m usually dead asleep by 10:30pm at the latest. No joke.

And that’s it! How does my typical schedule compare with yours? I’d love to hear in the comments below.