Today I felt like doing a little behind-the-scenes of my life as a freelancer.
Wake up around 9 or 10.
One of the best perks of working for myself is being able to set my own work hours. I was never one to rise early. I’m a night person, so I go to sleep around 2 or 3 AM. Sometimes I get very inspired at night and work late – past 4 AM.
I like to get 7.5 hours of sleep – more than that makes me sluggish. If I went to bed late, I still try to get up before noon, so I can enjoy the day.
Also, I try to stay away from my phone until I’ve finished breakfast. I had the horrible habit of scrolling through Facebook (and even emails!) before getting out of bed. Now I’m internet free for at least 30 minutes after waking up.
Breakfast: coffee, protein, a little bit of carbs, no sugar.
I’m one of those people that can’t function without coffee. I like to make my own, using my trusted Spanish cafetera. I drink it black or with a little bit of milk, no sugar. I generally avoid sugar in all of my food.
Breakfast is usually boiled eggs (scrambled if I feel like it) with veggies. I also avoid carbs, but in the morning I might have a piece of bread or a rice cracker for energy. Sometimes I switch this meal for a smoothie bowl.
If I’m travelling, I like to stay in places with a kitchen, so I can follow this process. The ingredients are pretty standard so I can find them in every country. I don’t like eating out if I can avoid it. I’m even considering taking a cafetera with me on my trips so I can make my own coffee. I like my coffee super strong, and I hate having to resort to filter coffee or even worse – instant coffee (eww)!
Email time.
When breakfast is done it’s time to catch up. I answer all pending emails and I also take the time to reach out to new people I want to connect with.
To be 100% honest here, I don’t like dealing with emails and I like to get this task out of the way first, because otherwise I will keep postponing it.
When this is done, I might hit the gym if I’m feeling energetic. However, most of the time I end up doing it in the evening.
Work work work!
At this point, I might go to a café and work there for a few hours to switch things up. However, I love working from my apartment in Barcelona, so usually I stay home.
If I’m travelling in places with bad internet, I will probably go to a coworking space.
As a creative, I work in long uninterrupted blocks – usually 4-5 hours at a time. I focus on one project and assume that nothing else exists. This is usually design or coding work for a client.
Design work includes sketching logo concepts and refining them in Illustrator, putting together brand boards, designing website pages in Photoshop, or creating various graphics for my clients.
Coding work usually involves CSS, javascript, PHP or the WordPress API.
If I don’t have pending client tasks, I work on Femtravelers: developing new features, improving old code, or marketing work.
Lunch and fun
I have lunch very late (something you inevitably adopt after living in Spain for 5 years) – 2PM at the earliest, sometimes as late as 4 or 5 PM (that can be considered dinner in some countries, I know). It’s usually a tuna salad, or the leftovers from last night’s dinner. If I’m feeling lazy I might go for a smoothie bowl. If I’m in a tropical place (like Bali), I will have an obligatory coconut with my lunch.
After lunch I do fun stuff! I like to spread out my work in the morning and in the evening, and do fun stuff during the day. If I’m in Barcelona, I go to the beach, or meet my friends in the center, or just play football with my boyfriend in the neighborhood park (love this).
If I’m travelling, I will take this time to explore the city I’m in, or go on an adventure like surfing, snorkeling, hiking, etc.
Gym + more work
For the past 3 months I’ve been going to the gym 6 days a week, and I feel GREAT. I lift weights and that leaves me pretty tired, so I usually do it in the evening – that way I can plop myself on the couch afterwards and spend a few more hours working, then go straight to bed.
The evening is usually reserved for my own projects, such as Femtravelers and this blog. I have tons of fun coding features for Femtravelers, and 6 hours can pass by without me noticing (not kidding), so I often end up going to bed past 4 AAM.