A question I get a lot right now is, “So, what are you up to?” What these people (family, friends, curious people I meet randomly, people making small talk, basically everyone) are really asking is, “So, since you’re not working, what is that you do all day?”
Sometime between 7:00 and 7:30 – Wake up, check phone, snuggle cat, make my way out of bed.
Until 9:00 – 2 cups of coffee, smoothie, Pinterest, reading blogs, commenting on blogs, etc. while watching the news
9:00 – First stages of getting ready for the day, yoga, meditation, take Piper (our King Charles cavalier spaniel) for a walk
Starting sometime between 9:30 and 10:00 – Study for the GRE. 5-6 days a week, I study for either the general GRE or the GRE subject test in literature. I alternate which test I study for and what part of the test I study. This is my September schedule:
So on Monday, I studied poetry. Tuesday it was arithmetic (is it embarrassing that I struggled with that?), Wednesday was literary history, Thursday was algebra (I was much better at that), and today it’s literary criticism. I spend at least 2 hours every day studying.
Sometime by 12:30 – Lunch
Afternoon – Finish getting ready (aka finishing my outfit and makeup) and then work. What this entails is different every day. It can mean what feels like a million emails, or writing posts and making images and scheduling promotions. Other days, it’s editing (have anything you need to be edited – college paper, college admissions essay, short biography, whatever?). Some days it’s writing. Sometimes it’s working on my writing website relaunch. Usually, it’s a combination of all of the above.
The afternoon is also when I tend to have different things scheduled. I’m volunteering at least one afternoon a week and I have different kinds of appointments. 3 afternoons this week, I had different appointments or commitments that took 2-4 hours.
I work right up to dinner every afternoon.
Sometime between 6:00 and 8:00 – Dinner
After dinner – Finishing any work that needs to be done that night and can’t wait until the next day. This is usually when I do video editing or any other fun and creative (or last-minute) things. Writing my to-do list for the next day. Watching TV or Netflix and plenty of social media.
10:00 – Get ready for bed, which includes bed-time yoga and meditation. I’m in bed (and hopefully asleep) by 11!
Hope that this explains a little more what I’m up to. I know sometimes I tweet or post things about being busy and working a lot, and I’m sure that some of you are just like, “Really? Aren’t you not doing anything right now?” While I’m not working a full-time (or even really part-time) job, I’m still doing stuff.
Hey there! My name is Caitlyn and I’m the girl behind ChemGradBoom. I am currently working on my masters and am planning my next adventure over to Scotland! While in Scotland I will be working on my PhD but most importantly I will be hanging out in castles, traveling, and visiting all 30 breweries there! So even if you’re not a college student I blog about it all: traveling, embarrassing moments in life, everything nerdy and life of a 24 year old who doesn’t know what’s next in life!
Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.
You are way more productive than I am! Haha. 🙂 It's awesome that you're keeping busy and preparing for the GRE. FYI I'd have trouble with the arithmetic too.
Still busy! Got luck on your tests!
I'm impressed with your study organization…my schedule would have less productivity and more naps 😉
Another interesting thing about the GRE. Most colleges don't care! When I called one of my prosepective graduate schools they said that the GRE is usually the last thing they look at when deciding whether or not to accept you
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