6:30 am: Wake up to the sound of my alarm clock and realize my cat is sleeping on my head, as usual. As soon as my feet hit the floor, he starts clamoring for food by winding around my legs and meowing loudly. I mutter something about turning him into a pair of slippers if he doesn’t pipe down.

7:00 am: I pack my lunch for work and head to the gym. Depending on the day, spin class, swimming, Pilates, treadmill, or my personal trainer awaits.  On days that I don’t go to the gym, I do the Insanity workout in my living room.  The downstairs neighbors love all my jumping around at such an early hour. I like to think I’m helping them keep an early schedule.

8:45 am: Consider roller-skating to work.

8:46 am: Drive to work.

9:00 am:  At my desk. There are approximately 15,000 (40) emails to sort through.  Doesn’t anyone sleep at night?  Some of these were written at 3:00 am!

9:30 am: Prioritizing my work according to what’s left over from the day before, what deadlines are looming, and what has just come through via email.

10:00 am: Production meeting. I sync up with the other designers on my team as well as the Production Manager.  We go over the day’s work as well as the details of a few new projects. I get more assignments, and trade some off to the other designers on my team.  I got a fun one!  I get to design a veterinary hospital website! I can’t wait to tell my cat!  (He’s going to need that vet if he keeps up his shenanigans!)

11:00 am: I’m finally able to start the day’s designs! On my plate today I have an email flyer for a major retail chain, edits to an iPhone app I’ve been designing, low resolution proofs on a vehicle wrap for a major gasoline distributor, and some initial concepts for that veterinary hospital website. I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little overwhelmed, but I remind myself that this is ok.  It’s job security.

12:00 pm: Lunch time! I eat at my desk while continuing to work on those vehicle wraps, then I put on my sneakers and go for a power walk.  This helps me keep my creative juices flowing and gets me over the afternoon slump. 

1:00 pm: Conference call with a client and our Account Manager to discuss an upcoming project. I love doing invitation suites! I’m pumped!

2:00 pm: A printer comes in with some proofs for me to review.  They look amazing!  I’m glad we went with this printer because she was fast and did a perfect job.

2:15 pm: Back to work on that email and the vehicle wrap!

4:00 pm: Come up for air after a couple of solid hours of design time. Vehicle wraps are looking good!  After a brief stretch and a cucumber (is it normal to eat an entire cucumber as a snack?), I’m back at it.

6:00 pm: I’m leaving on time tonight! This doesn’t always happen, but I don’t have any pressing deadlines to deal with today.  Thank goodness.  I’m tired! Plus, I have some freelance work to do when I get home.

7:00 pm: I feed my cat (He’s so demanding!) and then I get settled in to do my freelance work. I’m designing a logo for a woman who makes fancy soap. 

9:00 pm:  With the cat trailing behind me (I’m NOT feeding you again, you beast!), I head to my couch to catch up on a few episodes of Mad Men. I make a promise to myself that I’m not going to fall asleep on the couch again.

11:30 pm: Zzzzzzzzzzz (on the couch) (Darnit!)