I hear the unpleasant alarm sound of the Iphone alarm clock, remember that I’ve been meaning to get another alarm clock for a long time and press the snooze function to push the upcoming day back another 10 minutes. In these moments, I’m glad that we at Vast Forward have the freedom to start working 15 minutes earlier or later (provided I don’t have any early appointments in my calendar).
The first thing I do is go to the kitchen to switch on the radio. I always need a few quiet moments just for myself in the morning to wake up properly.
With a coffee in my hand and Deutschlandfunk in my ear, I sit down at the kitchen table and listen to the radio.

At around 8:30 a.m., I open my computer and get an overview of my upcoming appointments and to-dos for the day.
Today there are a lot of appointments in the calendar for the morning. For me, this means that I go straight to the bedroom and wake up my dog Ares.
He is an absolute late riser and blinks his little eyes at me if he has to get up earlier than 11 o’clock.
He reluctantly gets up, stretches and then follows me outside to take his first walk of the day.
For me, this is a welcome start to the day, as the little walk in the morning not only wakes him up, but also me.

Back home, I throw on my yoga clothes and roll out the mat. On Wednesday mornings at 10 a.m., we do team yoga together. Not only does it get my pulse racing, but it’s also a great way to strengthen the team structure. Today, the focus is on stretching the feet and balance – not my strongest points. Visibly out of breath, I finish the Zoom call at 11 a.m. and roll up my mat again.

As already mentioned, the morning is packed. So I head to my desk at 11:15 a.m. with a liter of water and a small breakfast.
It’s time for the status call with the team. We go through the project list together and note the status of current projects. We do this every three weeks to get a joint overview of upcoming, ongoing and recently completed projects.

But now quickly into the shower. I have a customer appointment coming up.

Another vital part of my routine is that I always try to take a break of an hour at 1 PM. The reasons are twofold, on the one hand we have the fact that my head is steaming and I just need a break. On the other hand Elmo is already eagerly waiting to, well, have a bowel movement. And he is the kind of dog who likes to communicate his needs vocally.

Therefore, I take my dog and try to get at least 30-45 minutes of fresh air. This is the time I like to listen to music or a podcast and just let my soul rest a little. Once back home I have my second, bigger breakfast or a small lunch. Usually leftovers from the night before.

If there’s still time left I like to do some household chores, doing the laundry, cleaning up around the apartment. Somehow this also helps me to calm down and relax.

My head is spinning – I sit down in the kitchen, put on some music and eat lunch.
When working from home, it’s easy to be tempted to sit back down at the computer with a sandwich and a cup of coffee. To avoid this, I try to leave the computer in the office during short breaks and move away to clear my head for a moment.

The last customer appointment for the day is scheduled for 4 pm. Our client is based in Canada, so appointments can only take place later in the afternoon.
We are currently working together on a web store and are in the feedback phase.
The customer checks the site and then comes back to us with requests for customization.

Ares is slowly getting nervous. He wants to go to the park and do his doggy activities. So I grab the leash and take him for a long walk. After all the appointments today, the fresh air and exercise are good.

As soon as I’m back at my computer, I start preparing for the end of the day.
I answer open emails, coordinate with a developer on an upcoming project and write a to-do list for the next day.

The huddle tone sounds on Slack. My colleague and sister Vanessa gets in touch. We talk briefly about our day and share our projects. Then I hear the front door slam shut and Ares jump up.
My boyfriend is home and that’s the end of the working day for me too.