My typical day

January 25, 2021

I was recently tagged by my friend Sara Soueidan to describe my typical day. It's a trend going around on Twitter, but I enjoy reading these kind of posts from other people, so perhaps some of you will find this interesting too. You can read about Sara's typical day, Dan Mall's, or Chris Coyier's.

As much as everyone - especially freelancers - like to say they don't have a typical day, I think I need to preface this post with some context. I think most people have a "typical day" in one way or another. As humans, we're always looking for structure and familiarity, so no matter what we like to think of ourselves, we have days that would be "typical". That said, the last year has seen me going through a divorce, moving into an apartment in a new city, and meeting someone new. For the first time in a very long time, I'm living by myself and also working from home. I'm also currently on a project where we have team members in Europe, US East coast and US West coast so that certainly affects my planning for the day. Needless to say, it's not that I don't have typical days, it's just that I might not really know what they look like quite yet.

6.30 - 8.00 AM - Around this time is when I usually get up. I'll make my breakfast and start the day pretty slowly. I'll have some coffee and just ease into the day. If it's summertime, this is when I do my workout, but during the winter, it's usually later in the day. At this time of the year, it's still pitch dark outside in Sweden.

8.00 - 11.30 AM - First work session. I've noticed that this is when I do my best, most focused work because there's usually no distractions at this time of the day. This is when I attack tougher problems or tasks that need more detailed structure.

11.30 AM - 12.30 PM - Winter workout time. I like breaking up the day into segments and this allows me to sort of reset my brain for the afternoon. If the weather is nice, I'll go for a run, but when it's not, I'll likely use my Waterrower or dumbbells at home instead.

12.30 PM - 1.30 PM - Lunch. When there's not a pandemic roaming the world, I like to meet people for lunch. I think it's far nicer to eat with others.

1.30 PM - 4.00 PM - Second work session. I'll review my own work from the morning and reply to emails, Slack messages, and start engaging with my team as collaborators in Europe and US East coast are starting to come online. This is where I do work that's less affected by me being pulled into other directions.

4.00 - 7.00 PM - Meetings. This is the overlap time that I have with my peers on the US West coast so there's usually at least one meeting per day, but more often than not that slot is pretty filled. I think it's generally fine though because it allows me to recap my day too.

7.00 - 8.30 PM - Dinner and chill. My girlfriend works late evenings too so we'll generally not catch up until around this time. We'll cook together, have some wine, and talk about what not.

8.30 - 9.00 PM - Answer Slack / Figma / Notion comments that come in so they'll have a chance to respond again ahead of my day tomorrow. I'll keep this time to a minimum.

9.00 - 11.30 PM - Movie or just hanging out. I've found that there's a huge benefit to my mental health, sleep, and general mood when I hardly use my phone after 9.00 PM.

11.30 PM - Bedtime. I'll generally fall asleep within < 10 minutes.

The tasks for each day is heavily dependent on two things:

  • the "remind me" feature in Slack (I use this a lot) to remember to come back to specific tasks or messages that was sent the previous evening.

  • Things. I have projects setup for all client projects, but also private projects (from grocery shopping to long term goals). I then use the 'When' feature to assign dates for everything so I know each morning what I have to accomplish during the day. Once the 'Today' list is all taken care of, I can head into a specific project to cross of additional tasks if I'm on roll. The list isn't definitive though, I'll keep my days flexible enough so that most days, almost any of the tasks could be moved until the next day.

    Closing thoughts

    I'm curious to see how my typical days will change over the coming months. Transitioning into my new life will surely come with new routines. Hopefully the pandemic will also have less of an impact on all of our lives. Less restrictions will certainly allow me to travel and engage in more social situations.

    What does your typical day look like?

It’s honest, authentic, and accessible.

I love sharing my experiences working in design and what’ve I’ve learned along the way. Join a community of thousands of designers, developers, and product professionals by signing up to my newsletter!

Not quite ready to sign up? I totally understand! Why not start by reading some of my past issues?

Great! Just “one more thing”...

You need to confirm your email to confirm your subscription.

  1. March, 2024

  2. February, 2024

  3. January, 2024

  4. December, 2023

  5. November, 2023

  6. October, 2023

  7. September, 2023

  8. August, 2023

  9. July, 2023

  10. June, 2023

  11. May, 2023

  12. April, 2023

  13. March, 2023

  14. January, 2023

  15. December, 2022

  16. November, 2022

  17. September, 2022

  18. August, 2022

  19. July, 2022

  20. June, 2022

  21. May, 2022

  22. April, 2022

  23. January, 2022

  24. December, 2021

  25. November, 2021

  26. October, 2021

  27. September, 2021

  28. August, 2021

  29. July, 2021

  30. June, 2021

  31. May, 2021

  32. April, 2021

  33. March, 2021

  34. January, 2021

  35. November, 2020

  36. October, 2020

  37. September, 2020

  38. August, 2020

  39. June, 2020

  40. May, 2020

  41. April, 2020

  42. March, 2020

  43. February, 2020

  44. January, 2020

  45. December, 2019

  46. November, 2019

  47. October, 2019

  48. September, 2019

  49. August, 2019

  50. July, 2019

  51. June, 2019

  52. May, 2019

  53. April, 2019

  54. March, 2019

  55. February, 2019

  56. January, 2019

  57. December, 2018

  58. November, 2018

  59. October, 2018

  60. September, 2018

  61. August, 2018

  62. July, 2018

  63. June, 2018

  64. May, 2018

  65. April, 2018

  66. March, 2018

  67. February, 2018

  68. January, 2018

  69. December, 2017

  70. November, 2017

  71. October, 2017

  72. September, 2017

  73. August, 2017

  74. July, 2017

  75. June, 2017

  76. May, 2017

  77. April, 2017

  78. March, 2017

  79. February, 2017

  80. January, 2017

  81. December, 2016

  82. November, 2016

  83. October, 2016

  84. September, 2016

  85. August, 2016

  86. July, 2016

  87. June, 2016

  88. May, 2016

  89. April, 2016

  90. March, 2016

  91. February, 2016

  92. January, 2016

  93. December, 2015

  94. November, 2015

  95. October, 2015

  96. September, 2015

  97. August, 2015

  98. July, 2015

  99. June, 2015

  100. May, 2015

  101. April, 2015

  102. November, 2014

  103. April, 2013