November 8, 2007
A day in the life
So i was inspired by Rand Fishkin’s post (and more recently Rebecca Kelly’s) over at SEOMoz.org to put together a day in the life of a SEM addict w/ 2 small kids - 2 dogs a cat and a husband - - - I know I’m insane - who has time to write this stuff down?
- 3am - wake up thinking about SEO crap and get up to look something up online
- 3:30am - go back to sleep
- 5:30 am - alarm rings so I can take dogs for a walk - yeah right
- 6am - pound alarm with fist and yell at dog #1 to get off bed
- 6:15am - pound alarm again and yell at dog#2 to get off bed
6:20am - get up - stumble around upstairs and roust Kid #1 (10 yo girl who insists on an hr to get ready every morning) and Kid #2 (6yo boy and it takes me a full hour to get him out of bed.)- 6:30am - shower, hair and makeup
- 6:45am - throw dogs out to do their thing - yell up stairs so kids are moving and getting dressed
- 6:50am - make lunches for 3 kids and feed dogs
- 7am, 7:05am, 7:10am - yell upstairs again and threaten death or baked beans for dinner if they dont get moving
- 7:15am - check email and answer quick ones - delete junk mail and glance at calendar for the day
- 7:20 - kid 1 makes an appearance whining cuz there is nothing to wear - i point to pile of unfolded clean laundry on the couch and chug coffee
- 7:30 - run upstairs and drag kid #2 out of bed and dress him - push them out the door to run to the bus stop - as usual nice bus driver guy waits for them
- 7:35am - load up dog #2 and head for work
- 8:05 am arrive at work - boot up puter and find more coffee
- 8:15-9am - answer more email and call a few east coast clients
- 9am: prepare for daily meetings - arrange portfolios and make sure I’m ready to go
- 9:30 - R&D meeting
- 10:30 back at desk for more email and some tasks - call a few more clients - crank out some optimization and do some PPC maintenance
- 11:30 - wander around office looking for food
- 11:45 - drag some unsuspecting co-worker to lunch w/ me
- 12:30 back at desk for more tasks - meet w/ various people to discuss upcoming trainings and do some one on one training
- 2:30 - find more food and coffee - maybe even a diet coke
- 2:45 - answer even more emails - read my feeds and blog some -
- 3:45 - call west coast clients and check in or work on some projects that never seem to get done
- 4:30pm head home
- 5:00 pm walk in house and get accosted by 2 kids, husband, 2 dogs and a cat
- 5:30 pm find some food to feed this damn army of people
- 6:30 pm laundry, dishes, baths & such
- 8pm - bed time - this takes at least 45 minutes because of “oh i forgots” and “can i have a glass of water”
- 9pm - back online - work on personal projects, read feeds and blog - answer some late emails from clients and/or friends
- 11pm - bed time
- 11:30 - kick the damn dogs off the bed again
What about waking up at 3 in the morning thinking about SEO and having to go check something out on the pc? And then finding an SEO friend up and at it on IM, too.
The computer glow always gives me away.
Or falling asleep on the couch reading whitepapers? Or having printed our whitepapers and ebooks scattered all over the kitchen counter, dining room table, coffee table, nightstand and both desks?
Love this post. Makes me think about what my days might be like when kids come into the picture
LOVED this post!
I play “tent” with my laptop under the covers so as not to wake up hubby and wonder why I bother sometimes, since he goes to bed with his cell phone/hand held device and all night long I hear the chirp of new email coming in.
LOL Rand - you have NO idea what you’re in for!
Kim - I dont have a laptop - my hubby has drawn the line because he knows I’d drag it to every room in the house with me. We’re going on vacation to Orlando in January and I wanted to take a day and visit a client - that didnt go over very well
I so feel your pain!! I have young children, an arsenal of blogs / websites and a total obsession for everything social media and web 2.0. I totally hear ya.
What a boring day … Not. Emulate a dad working at home to feel real pain …
Great post! Seems Rand is heeding my warning about kids being time-zappers
Love my laptop coz I can work/blog anywhere. But KIM! Laptop under the covers? Shame on you girl! So much for romance eh?
My great friend, Kal, writes “Laptop under the covers? Shame on you girl! So much for romance eh?”
Hangs head…I know, I know. I need workaholics anonymous.
Sometimes it’s dueling laptops too, where we’re both in bed, each with their laptop. I’ve been a real smart ass and emailed from mine then too.