Career Confession: My life is monotonous

When I accepted a job offer after graduation, I was so excited that I would be getting rid of the late night paper writing for a 9-5 routine with all kinds of other benefits. Well, here we are two years later and my day-to-day is more, well, monotonous than it is a perfect routine. With two years of practice under my belt, you’d think I’d have a pretty solid daily schedule, complete with a morning workout, eight hours in the office, a well-balanced meal for dinner, and some time with my friends and boyfriend before I call it a day.

Unfortunately, my day tends to look like this:

Alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. Eighty percent of the time I’ll skip the gym just to get another hour of sleep. I get to work exhausted because I didn’t get my endorphins pumping early on, so I drink about three cups of coffee. Because I want that next promotion sooner rather than later, I agree to write a new business proposal, leaving me in my cube until 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. It’s a good thing my cube is decorated so well! As soon as I get home, I’ll likely pour a glass of wine and then throw something in the microwave simply because I’m not a fan of starvation. Next thing I know, I’m in bed watching reruns of Friends and asleep before 10 p.m. …

What. A. Life.

Realizing your life isn’t super-fantastic and awesomely perfect is a rude awakening that sucks really bad. Not that my life or job are terrible in any way, I just never took the time until now to come to grips with my new adult-like, more responsible lifestyle. So millennial.  While I’m going to be doing this for the next 45 years, I’ve decided to make some positive changes to my routine so that I don’t feel so bored:

• I now use Sundays to prepare my food for the week. Getting to sit on the roof at work while I eat my lunch and knowing I don’t have to make dinner when I get home makes all the difference.
• I decided to only take on what I can reasonably handle at work. Quality is always better than quantity and time with friends is better than sitting in an office alone.
• Time spent at the gym is well spent, but I’ve stopped beating myself up if I don’t make it every single morning. It also helps knowing that if I make it 2-3 times each week, that’s 2-3 times more than most people I know!
• Instead of staring into space like a zombie in the mornings (and sometimes evenings), I now take a book with me on the train for my commute. I know, I know, everyone does this. I just didn’t realize how beneficial it can be to clear your mind.
• Planning for weekend activities and doing fun things when I can is much better than sitting around brooding all Saturday morning just because it’s the first time I’ve had a few free hours all week

So, while I may not have the ideal day-to-day life I once imagined and I may not be able to roll out of the office at 5 p.m. every day, continuing to take small steps to beat the monotony is fabulous. I still have stints of workaholism and skip the gym for some sleep, but I’m not bored or disappointed about how my life is shaping up.

Have any advice for people like me, realizing their daily lives aren’t “perfect”? Share below!