Just A Daily Average Routine
I am a creature of habit and I am very much guided by the clock. Like clockwork, I wake up every morning during the week at 3:55am. Rather than linger in bed, I pop up within seconds of turning off the alarm. That’s when my day officially starts, in that I am now on my feet and no longer lying down. I manage to get myself ready and out the door by no later than 4:30am. The morning routine always includes a hot shower (even during the summer months), before I get into my work clothes, which consists of jeans or khakis and some kind of button-up shirt. The shoes always correspond to the outfit and match accordingly. I select a couple of scents, usually in the form of a deodorant and a body spray, and hope that these scents last at least through the morning.
I drive to work alone, except for the few other motorists that happen to be on those same early morning streets as I am. It’s a smooth, leisurely ride for those seven miles between the house and the office. The parking lot at work is usually empty, which at that hour, it should be. Off in the distance from where I seemingly always park, I see security parked inside of the gated lot where the office’s fleet is housed. I always assume that the security guard is fast asleep inside of his vehicle. I’ll never check to confirm this, but I will maintain that belief that security is definitely not awake. I scan myself into the building and sometimes, the lights inside are off. Sometimes they’re on. Most mornings, regardless of lighting, I am comfortably in my cubicle at 4:45am.
At that point, I know that I have just over two hours of peace and solitude, during which I seem to do my best writing because it’s quiet and I’m all by myself. There are no other people around to serve as visual or auditory distractions. I turn on my computer and log in. As the computer warms itself up, I am prepping YouTube on my cell phone. I use YouTube as a form of background noise, which always plays in the background as I write my reports. I typically pay minimal attention to whatever happens to be on YouTube, being that my focus is always on my writing, always looking to use just the right word to convey the exact message I wish to communicate. Words become phrases. Phrases become sentences. Sentences become paragraphs. Paragraphs become reports. I believe in being eloquent, though succinct, with the way that I write. It’s a skill, one that I want to say that I have mastered through the years. Suffice it to say that I have a style and I’ve developed a reputation with that style.
As early as 6:45am, I get anxious because I know that my solitude will soon be shattered, as my co-workers will soon be making their way into the office themselves and they will be getting their days started, similarly to how I did two hours earlier. By 8am, the office becomes about as full as it is going to get, though I know that there are people who couldn’t be bothered with punctuality and arriving at work on-time. These folks trickle in anywhere between 8am and 9am, though I suppose some people come in much later. How much later, I could not say or even estimate. All I know is that I come in ridiculously early, so that I can get started on what I consider to be the best part of the job, that being the writing component.
The day progresses, as it always does. Sometimes I’ll spend the entire day in my cubicle, cranking out reports and having a blast doing it. Other days, I’ll head out into the world, just to break the monotony, and see what’s going on beyond the four walls and a ceiling that typically house me during the work day.
Regardless of how I spent the day, I almost always call it a day at 5:30pm. Yes, I work just over 12 hours a day, with anything over 10 hours being overtime. I make the trek home, usually in minimal traffic, and I’m home before I know it. The evening brings about a simple dinner, maybe some leisurely writing, perhaps some gaming, and eventually a timely bedtime, which will allow me to repeat the process the next day when that alarm goes off again at 3:50am.
My life is pretty simple and that’s just the way I like it. I don’t have time for drama, people playing games with me, or anything that brings about unnecessary stress. Work itself is rarely stressful, because I don’t let it get to me. I don’t usually bring work home with me because I know it’ll all be there when I return to the office again tomorrow at 4:45am.