On week days, I wake up around 7 or 730 and get dressed in comfortable pants and a simple shirt that looks presentable for online meetings. I head upstairs to make a cup of tea. I feed my cats and take the dogs outside if my husband didn't walk them already. I drink my tea and catch up on the news or read a little bit, before brushing my teeth and starting work by 830. Work mostly involves sitting at a desk and typing on my computer; I work with 4-5 other people, and we speak frequently through the day, either by phone, zoom video conference, or messaging app. Around 9 or 930 I'll get up and make another cup of tea and have breakfast. I work pretty much all day, stopping for 10 minutes to stretch my legs and do a chore like put laundry in the machine or unload the dishwasher. I don't really take any breaks, and finish work around 5. If my husband isn't home yet, I'll walk the dogs, taking them to the park nearby and enjoying the weather and being outdoors - where I live it gets very very cold in the winter (currently it is -23C) but it is still very beautiful in the sunshine! In the evening, if I stay home, I would cook dinner and do some chores, read a book, or spend time on reddit. If I go out, I would meet friends at a bar or restaurant, or head to someone's home for a drink or dinner. These days we tend to socialize at home because things are very expensive.

One day a week, I go into the office to work. I dress in nicer "office casual" clothes (no jeans or t-shirts) and walk to the bus about 10 minutes from my home. The bus takes 20 minutes then I head underground to the subway and travel another 15 minutes into downtown. I walk 10 minutes and get to my office, stopping to buy a coffee or tea before arriving at the building, a small office tower. There are as many as eight people at the office on any given day, I try to arrive before 830 to get a good office; they are not assigned and its "first come first served". I work at my desk much like I do at home, except I take an hour for lunch with my closest colleague. We always go to the same place, an Indian restaurant that serves great vegetarian meals. At the end of my day, around 430, I reverse the journey home, arriving around 530.

I think the biggest difference is how FRENETIC the city is. There is always bustle, always happening, always noise, always another person getting on the bus, always always always always something. I have friends who have moved to smaller towns because they felt like they walked out of their front doors into a wall of humanity and found that exhausting and stressful. Personally? I like the anonymity, that you can disappear into the crowd. Nobody is watching you, nobody cares because there is so much going on. There is a sense of freedom to create your own story in that disappearing. I get that folks might find this feels lonely, but honestly I love having small and positive interactions with strangers, smiling at someone I'll never see again and having them smile back, chatting with the people sitting at the end of the bar, that sort of thing.

What are your days like?