Today
In our regular Thursday Zoom meet up
Martyn asked the question of all of us: what punctuates your day?
I guess, for some, as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions, people’s punctuations have shifted
Especially those who are no longer going to work or are working from home
Not so for me
As I jotted down my daily punctuations while other’s spoke of theirs, I realised that my day has been punctuated thus since 1995
As a freelance artist, I seem to have by-and-large been the supervisor of my time on a day to day basis
So here is my daily punctuation list
(Note: there is no difference between my weekdays and weekends)
08.30 Get up. Shower. Stretching exercises
09.15 Breakfast with fresh coffee followed by the daily ablution
10. 15 Walk the dog for 45mins to an hour
11.15 Morning coffee followed by some sort of work, which is a different sort of work* and a different pace of work now, under Covid-19. It might be desk based: reading, writing, emails, Facebook catch up; or it could be out in the garden, gardening, or it could be housework
13.00 Lunch and a piece of cake with a cup of tea made with tealeaves
13.45 Work – as above
16.00 A cup of tea – as above
16.30 More work - as above
18.00 Walk the dog for 45mins to an hour
18.45 Make the tea – also known as dinner by some (if it’s my turn)
19.30 Eat tea followed by decafe espresso and chocolate
20.00 Chill out in front of the telly
21.00 Walk the dog, if it’s my turn (we do alternative nights to allow the other to have an uninterrupted evening chill)
21.30 Stay sat on the sofa in front to the telly until it’s time for bed, but before bedtime, a cup of hot milk
23.00 Off to bed
Pre- Covid and during Covid the punctuation has been the same, although pre Covid, the timings were subject to shifts depending on if I needed to be somewhere or with someone at a specific time.
Covid has disrupted many things in my life, but it hasn’t touched the punctuation.
Although,
It has impacted on the length of time taken for these breaks in the day. Breakfast is now a leisurely hour-long experience. Tea and coffee breaks too have extended. No longer do I drink my brews sat in front of the computer, catching up on emails or writing whatever it is (or was) that has to be written. No need. It’s immaterial that my working hours have shrunk. I’ve barely any ‘work’. So why not, for the first time in my working life, take it easy and enjoy the passing of the hours, of the days, of the weeks, of the months. This is, after-all, 2020, an unprecedented year.
Not having to go anywhere since March, my daily ritual or rhythm has barely fluctuated. If anything, it has become more focused in its detail; for example, tea is always drunk from the same china mug, my mug. The morning coffees are always drunk from the same cup and saucer; again, mine. Likewise, with the hot milk before bedtime.
The china tea mug
Given that the above punctuation pattern is representative of my last 25 years, I expect it could see me through till the day when I am no longer the supervisor - or co-supervisor, given that I am in a committed partnership - of my own time.
I think it would be fare to say that I am a creature of habit.
Thanks for asking, Martyn.
* The vast majority of my work was suspended due to the lockdown. Continuing restrictions resulted in this work – 2 commissions – being postponed until March 2021. What has replaced the work void left by these postponements has been Call Centre and a couple of small writing commissions – which I may (or may not) blog about later.
The coffee cup
The bedtime hot milk mug