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So… what’s it actually wish to be a location impartial journey blogger, on-line course creator, and freelancer? What do I DO all day, particularly now throughout COVID? What’s a mean day seem like working from residence in Tbilisi?
These are questions I get on a regular basis, so I figured… why not share a mean day within the life?
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A number of years in the past I wrote a couple of day in the life of a China expat and shared a typical day working as a university counselor in Beijing. I additionally did just a little enjoyable dream train approach again in 2016 the place I fantasized about what my life would be like after I labored for myself. Embarrassing, however a few of it isn’t too far off!
So for these of you who’re curious, here’s what a mean day is like for me, working as a journey blogger and freelancer in Tbilisi, Georgia!
Yasmina doesn’t have any entrance enamel
9:00 – 9:30 AM – Awake to a Fluffy Cat Sitting On Me
Right here within the Republic of Georgia, we’re all just about night time individuals, so I don’t truly get away from bed till round 9:45 am. Plus Chris runs online D&D games till 1 am most nights which suggests I undoubtedly can’t go to be early, and even on the nights he doesn’t have D&D, my neighbor will play loud music and clear her total residence whereas rearranging her furnishings till about that point anyway.
Good factor I’m an evening owl!
I normally awake someday earlier than my alarm to my massive fluffy rescue cat Yasmina sitting on me. If that doesn’t wake me up, she might poke me within the face with a fats paw whereas purring loudly. She’s discovered that meowing at me to rise up and feed her simply will get her in bother, so now she acts actually cute so I can’t be mad. Hey, no matter works.
Right here’s a photograph of our lounge and kitchen from the day we moved in!
9:45 AM – Morning Chores
As soon as I rise up, I brush my enamel as I’m serenaded by the meows of my massive cat and little crazy kitten (who’s NOT allowed in our bed room whereas we sleep as a result of he can’t be trusted).
I’ve been making an attempt to coach them to now scream-meow at me whereas I make their breakfast, nevertheless it’s a piece in progress. Earlier than I feed them, I give Yasmina just a little squirt of stool softener medication within the aspect of her mouth to assist her with all her digestion points.
I regulate the 2 of them whereas I sweep the lounge and kitchen to wash up from final night time’s dinner prep and the cat litter that inevitably will get EVERYWHERE due to our kitten Mordie. Yasmina must eat particular meals for her medical points, and infrequently will attempt to bully the kitten out of his when she finishes hers. Fortunately I’m there to police any meals theft.
My view whereas I do yoga
10 AM – Yoga with Adrienne
Each morning I do a Yoga with Adrienne Youtube video. I roll my pink yoga mat out in entrance of the television and use our Firestick to hop on Youtube and play the subsequent video.
Adrienne does a brand new 30 days of yoga collection each January, so I’ve slowly been biking by them. I’m presently working my approach by her Dedicate series from two years in the past.
I like doing her 30-day collection’ as a result of she designs them to be performed daily and the movies construct off of each other (with relaxation days that focus extra on stretching and meditation blended in). I get far more out of it this manner than if I simply did random movies from her account.
As I’m doing yoga, likelihood is the kitten will play with my hair and bounce on me, or will terrorize Yasmina and knock over the water bowl, or bounce into the sink as a result of… why let Richelle get pleasure from her morning, am I proper?
After yoga, I wash my face, spritz my curly hair with a sprig bottle to calm the frizz, and dress for the day in a breezy costume, as a result of, for some purpose, it’s inexplicably heat at the moment!
Georgian bread and cheese on the balcony for brunch!
10:45 AM – Bread on the Balcony
At present isn’t too rushed, so I determine to make a pleasant breakfast for Chris and I to begin the week off proper. I seize my Georgian mountain cheese, slicing just a few items off onto a small saucer. Then I minimize up a grapefruit for the 2 of us to share. Lastly, I pour some recent home made sunflower oil from the store down the street right into a saucer and sprinkle adjika spices into the oil.
As soon as I’ve completed, I seize a 1 lari coin (30 cents USD) and run down the block to my native shoti bakery. I peer by the window to see a girl rolling dough, as I place the coin in her little window tray. The girl grabs a recent shoti from her rack close to the window, wrapping a small piece of paper round it for me to hold residence. This one should’ve simply come out of the oven because it’s burning my arms!
As soon as I get again, I make two cups of espresso with my useful Aeropress and arrange breakfast on the balcony so Chris and I can benefit from the solar and the wonderful view.
The 2 of us rip off items of shoti bread, inserting the mountain cheese inside, and dipping it into the adjika sunflower oil combination. It’s SO GOOD. Severely, for those who come to Georgia you must eat this.
Additionally, consuming breakfast on my balcony makes me really feel so fancy and European!
My desk!
11:15 AM – Admin and E-mail Time!
Monday is the day I do all of the duties I actually don’t wish to do. I’m actually not a detail-oriented admin-loving particular person (Enneagram 7 over here!), so I wish to get them out of the best way very first thing. Rip it off like a band-aid!
Fortunately I’ve an incredible assistant Hilary who responds to a whole lot of emails for me and kinds those I have to see into folder classes for me to undergo. She then texts me on the finish of the day letting me know what to anticipate the next morning! Severely, this lady has modified my life.
At present I have to undergo and reply to weblog put up feedback, double-check that the cost for one in all my course college students went by, and insert a hyperlink from a model into one in all my outdated posts, which to be sincere, is fairly uncommon since COVID hit.
I additionally put up a fast reminder within the Teach Abroad Squad Fb Group so nobody forgets to submit their questions for the weekly Tuesday Stay Q&A! I then schedule one other put up to exit Wednesday, reminding everybody of the Stay Zoom Workplace Hours on Sunday.
Quote of the week!
12:30 – Social Media Freelancing Time
As soon as I end my admin, I have to schedule my social media posts for the week for Merilyn, my enterprise coach who I now work for! I assist run each her Facebook Page and free Facebook Group, so each Monday I block out an hour to schedule posts for the remainder of the week.
I share her newest podcast episodes, put up engagement questions encouraging individuals to share photographs of their workspace, or inform me one factor they’re going to work on of their enterprise, and extra!
Whereas I’m at it, I hop on Canva, my go-to graphic design device. Each week I take a quote from her podcast, a video she’s performed, or her web site and create a enjoyable graphic. I then take that quote and make it a weekly problem for the free Fb group. I’ve a graphic for the weekly problem too!
This week Merilyn is launching a (tremendous superior) course about using your personality type in your business. She designed her personal persona typing system for entrepreneurs referred to as the WowArchetypes (you can take the quiz here, I’m a PassionMaker!). The brand new program is all about utilizing your WowArchetype to seek out extra stream in what you are promoting.
Lead Your Day Problem!
As a result of she advised me final week in our assembly she was about to launch this, I made a decision the quote of the week can be a quote I took from her gross sales web page. After all, I promote the sales page for her course within the textual content above the graphic photograph!
Then for the weekly problem, I ask everybody in her free Fb group to determine which WowArchetype they’re and incorporate one piece of recommendation for his or her sort into their enterprise and let me know what they did in a remark!
Lastly, after I’m performed creating and scheduling, I spend a strong half-hour responding to Fb feedback, commenting on Merilyn posts as myself (Richelle), and creating engagement and interplay within the group. Typically I am going on, put up as Richelle, after which reply as Merilyn and create just a little dialog with myself like a weirdo. The extra …
The neighborhood of Vake!
2 PM – Lunch and Errands
For lunch, I warmth up some leftover home made hen fajitas from dinner. I warmth all the things up within the microwave and make a pleasant little burrito for myself with hen, peppers, onion, and salsa.
As I eat, I pull up Youtube and compensate for what’s taking place with US politics. At present it’s simply extra about Trump being a COVID super-spreader, doing public talking with out a masks despite the fact that he examined optimistic… , the standard.
After I end lunch I have to make a fast errand to the print store to print my poll for the election! I already stuffed out my poll on-line over the weekend, so I simply have to print it out, signal it, scan it, and e-mail the poll again. Fortunately Washington state is basically superior they usually allow you to e-mail your poll for those who reside abroad! I even have a scanner app on my telephone that works very well, so I don’t have to pay to scan something.
When you’re curious who I’m voting for, it’s Biden… however for those who’ve been studying my weblog for some time that most likely doesn’t shock you.
3 PM – School Admissions Interview
As one other part-time job, I’ve been interviewing Chinese language college students for his or her faculty admissions purposes. I do these interviews over Zhumu, a Chinese language model of Zoom, and we ship the recording to the schools the scholar is making use of to.
Over the summer season I may need back-to-back interviews all day (particularly on Saturdays!), however because it’s the National Week holiday in China, I solely have one at the moment.
Earlier than the interview, I spruce up a bit and placed on my favorite lipstick and my glasses (so I look put collectively with out carrying make-up!). I then take out my little interview pocket book and my headphones with an attached microphone that I take advantage of for interviews. (Which finally work now that I bought an adaptor!)
Earlier than the interview begins, I hop on my interviewer portal and take a look at the interview questions so I’m ready. 5 minutes earlier than the interview is about to start I hop on the decision!
I used to work as a university counselor in Beijing!
The primary a part of the interview entails checking the scholar’s ID, ensuring they flip off their telephone, checking their paperwork and the room, and explaining the interview course of to them. We then transfer to the interview portion, which lasts round 12-13 minutes. After doing these back-to-back all summer season, I’ve gotten fairly good at them! I normally make some small notes throughout the interview to recollect issues they’ve mentioned to ask about later or to mark down if there have been any audio or visible points.
After the interview portion, we transfer onto the 30- minute writing part. As soon as I clarify to them how the writing portion works, I begin my 30-minute timer and switch off my video and audio and watch them to ensure they’re not dishonest. Whereas I do that, I arrange and submit the interview information to my firm, and time stamp the interview questions within the video!
After the written half is completed, I’ve the scholar take footage of their writing pattern, and ship them to me over WeChat, which I then undergo the corporate.
Engaged on Adventures Round Asia at a cat cafe!
4 PM – Write a Weblog Submit
When you haven’t already heard, I have a goal of writing one blog post per week each week for 3 months. I normally reserve Tuesday as my weblog put up writing day, after which attempt to edit and publish my put up someday earlier than the subsequent Tuesday.
Nicely, final week I went on a visit for my one-year marriage ceremony anniversary with Chris, after which we went home trying to find a brand new residence over the weekend, so I haven’t had any time to jot down a weblog put up and it’s already virtually Tuesday. Ahhhh!!!
So for the subsequent few hours, I’ll sit down and crank out a weblog put up with the aim of ending it earlier than dinner. Fortunately, now that I’m writing weblog posts I truly WANT to jot down, it’s a lot simpler for me to jot down rapidly. That mentioned, my posts are all the time tremendous lengthy so… not that rapidly.
I normally break up my weblog posts into two days: sooner or later to take a seat down and write all the put up, and on the second day I’ll come again with recent eyes, edit and proofread, after which add hyperlinks, photographs, alt textual content, Pinterest photographs, featured photographs, tags, classes, a meta description, and extra. Writing weblog posts is SO MUCH extra than simply writing.
However because it’s already Monday, I have to do all of it in sooner or later to satisfy my synthetic self-imposed Tuesday deadline. I get it virtually all performed, with a promise to come back again tomorrow morning so as to add the photographs.
Right here’s a Georgian tomato and cucumber salad with walnut paste
7 PM – Residence Cooked Dinner
Round 7 pm I’ll begin cooking dinner for the 2 of us. Tonight we’re having pasta with a Georgian-style salad. I discovered this healthy eggplant and tomato pasta sauce recipe that I’ll use for dinner together with some meatballs Chris ordered from our meat supply man.
I’ll pop the meatballs within the oven as I run to our native fruit and vegetable retailer down the block, throwing on my pink material masks simply in case. I’ll choose up some eggplant, recent tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and some bananas whereas I’m at it. My whole invoice involves round $2 USD!
I’ll whip up the eggplant and tomato pasta sauce and whereas that’s cooking I’ll begin chopping up the substances for my interpretation of a Georgian tomato and cucumber salad. I’m too lazy to make my very own walnut paste, so as a substitute, I simply crush up just a few walnuts and sprinkle them on high, together with a tiny little bit of Georgian mountain cheese, a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper, and a few white wine vinegar. Yum!
We’ll eat dinner round 8 pm (which is fairly normal in Georgia), and I could even pour myself a small glass of Georgian Saperavi wine, which is an area pink made in a qveveri.
Then Chris and I’ll settle in to look at one in all our exhibits. We’re presently watching Evil on Netflix (which I’m obsessive about).
Ingesting Georgian Saperavi wine!
10 PM – Dungeons and Dragons
I’ll make myself a cup of English breakfast tea earlier than my night of enjoying Dungeons and Dragons on-line (as a result of I’m a giant nerd). Each Monday I play a recreation with Chris and some different mates utilizing Zoom and a web based recreation platform referred to as Roll20. Tonight we’ll be making an attempt to dismantle a cult posing as a pious temple… with out getting ourselves arrested or dying. Want me luck.
cuddling with my child floof
1 AM – Time For Sleep!
We lastly wrap up the sport round 12:30 am, so I then head to the toilet to scrub my face and brush my enamel, lastly collapsing into mattress simply earlier than 1 am. I’ve been making an attempt to keep away from spending an excessive amount of time on my telephone earlier than sleep, so I’ll pull out one in all my Enneagram books to learn for about 20 minutes earlier than I’m too exhausted to maintain my eyes open.
Let’s Hear From You!
So… was this schedule something such as you thought it will be? Do components of my day shock you?
Additionally, for those who work for your self on-line, I’d love to listen to what your schedule is like. What sorts of issues do you do to become profitable throughout COVID?
Lastly, for those who’re desirous to change into location impartial your self however don’t know the place to begin, please let me know in a remark! I wish to design extra assets for you sooner or later, so let me know what you’re taken with studying extra about, and what your roadblocks are!
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