An Average Work From Home Day

September 12, 2018

A Look at Working from Home

Earlier this year when I joined The Wing I got into a great new rhythm. I had spent my first year and a half of self employment working from home or working from hotels and coffee shops and truth be told, it had gotten a little old. Getting a co-working space was just the boost of inspiration and change of environment I needed but I still cherish my days working from home which is typically 2x per week.

In the recent reader survey someone asked for a look at my day to day. I’ve shared it in the past here but that was almost two years ago when I was first self employed and now my schedule is a bit different so today, in my ongoing partnership with Olay, I’m excited to give you an updated peek at my work from home days.

An Average Work From Home Day

Olay Whip Review

Olay Whip Review

Working from home I wit & whimsy

Meghan Donovan Working from Home

Olay Whip Face Moisturizer review

On average, I work from home Mondays and Fridays and go to Manhattan Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. One thing to note is I really try to limit my meetings to Tuesday-Thursday. Grace told me early days to not take meetings on Mondays and instead make them get-$hit-done days and I have really appreciated this advice! From time to time I’ll take a conference call

7:30AM:

Wake up naturally pretty much on the dot. My body clock is scary accurate these days and I usually wake up just as my alarm goes off! I usually post an Instagram when I wake up as I catch up on my feed.

8:00AM:

With the addition of BBG to my workout routine, my work from home days now start with those workouts. If I don’t do them first thing in the morning, I don’t think I’d manage to muster the mental strength to get them done! (I sometimes shoot around 8AM on Mondays, too but I try to shoot on the days I have to get fully ready and head into the city for events and meetings anyhow!)

8:45AM:

I shower and make breakfast (usually a yogurt with fruit + nuts) and pour myself a cup of coffee and start my recording of that morning’s Today Show while I let my hair air dry.

9:30AM:

I get dressed and put on my face! I always make an attempt to get dressed which usually means a t-shirt/jeans combination. As for makeup, when I’m working from home I am extremely minimalist but I always, always put on moisturizer which since earlier this year has been the Olay Total Effects Whip Face Moisturizer with SPF 25. I am obsessed with this stuff because of the texture. Light as air, fast-drying thanks to its Active Rush Technology and super matte in finish which is important to me because my skin gets shiny easily.

When I use Olay Total Effects Whip I can actually skip the makeup primer because it essentially hydrates and primes. Win/Win. My skin looks so good after application and if I’m going to be heading somewhere that day, this summer I started adding in a drop of this stuff into the moisturizer for an added glow and the ability to skip bronzer. On minimal makeup days I may add some mascara and tap on some concealer and my favorite tinted lip balm and that’s about it!

9:45AM:

I dive into my inboxes! I send emails I’ve drafted already, reply to urgent ones that have come in and try to comb through those that I’ve starred and need to respond to. I’m a bit obsessive about my email inboxes and actually love this time of day.

10:30AM:

Next up I’m onto blog related to-dos. I work to promote that day’s post on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Stories and on Facebook. I also begin to finish up the next day’s post and generally work a little each day on my Weekly Roundup adding links as I find them.

12:15PM:

I break for lunch which I pretty much always make at home. I’ll whip up a salad or grain bowl (quinoa or couscous with tomatoes, cucumbers, ground turkey, feta and pine nuts is usually my go-to). I don’t have great grab and go options near my apartment which is good for my wallet and ensures I eat less junk day to day. (My go-to recipes can be found here.)

1:00PM:

I do, on occasion, take conference calls on Mondays and Fridays. And since a lot of my clients are on the West Coast, they are almost always in the early/mid afternoon EST. The majority of my afternoons are split between blog work and consulting client work. I also spend time working with my interns on both businesses to send deliverables and check in on tasks.

4:00PM:

If my day allows, I try and take a walk or run an errand to avoid sitting all day. I may do laundry or go to the grocery store to pick up items for dinner. I’ll open packages or tidy my apartment before sitting down again to finish out emails and projects for the day.

6:00PM:

I have been making major efforts this year to have more regular hours so I try to step away at 6:00 from my computer. Having evening plans in the city with friends or events helps. And I try to not open my computer again when I come home. This is a struggle for me because I always feel like there is more work to do. (Don’t we all!?) If I don’t have plans for the evening I may go to a hot yoga class (less so now on Mondays and Fridays due to BBG but I used to love ending those days with a class!) or I make dinner at home and catch up on my DVR.

Overall, I love the flexibility of working from home but also really appreciate having a workspace I can go to in order to really buckle down or from where I can take meetings. I’ve found The Wing so helpful and such a nice homebase throughout the city (they have NYC locations in the Flatiron, Soho and DUMBO) but I also revel in the days that I can stay comfy and casual and make my meals at home. I do find that getting dressed is important to being productive. And also I try hard to limit distractions around the house so I can stay on task when it comes to working. I’ve been working from my couch the past three months as I eagerly await my new desk chair. I can’t wait to get back to sitting at my desk!

So tell me: do you ever work from home? Are you a fan? Or do you prefer an office environment?

p.s. my tips for working from home and announcing my self employment journey.

This post is in partnership with Olay. You can purchase the Olay Whip from Walgreens HERE!

[Carter Fish Photography]

comments +

  1. Alyssa H says:

    As aomeone who works from home, too, I loved reading this! You are way more disciplined than me though. Sounds like you’ve really got a schedule down!

  2. Shannon says:

    This sounds lovely and so completely opposite of my classroom reality.

  3. Jessica H says:

    I work a 9 to 5 but I’m considering going fully self-employed soon, so I found this post helpful and inspiring. Working from home is such a huge perk to me but it definitely requires discipline–and you got it!

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