Day in the life

Linking up with Cynthia, Mar, and Courtney for the Friday Five.

This week's topic: A Day in the Life.

You ready to hear about the heartpounding, riveting, spellbinding life of a corporate accountant?!?!? (Side note - prior to joining my current company, I spent the vast majority of my career working as a financial analyst. Finance is more intuitive to me than accounting. But I do like my current role.)

My non-deadline and deadline weeks are pretty different. Here is a typical business day for me during a non-deadline week when I don't have any evening social plans.

7:30 or 7:45 AM - The time my alarm is set. I usually wake up a little earlier and turn off the alarm before it goes off. I usually lie in bed for a few minutes and read my email (both personal and work), some blogs, and a few social media/news sites. Then I get up and moving.

8:30 or 8:45 AM - Depending how quickly I am moving and how much night-before prep I did (e.g. packing my lunch, laying out my outfit for the day), I depart to go to work. Sometimes I eat breakfast at home, other times I eat at my desk. I am extremely fortunate that my office is only a 10-minute walk from my home.

8:45 or 9:00 AM - Arrive at the office. Boot up my computer. Log into all of the applications that I use on a regular basis (I once counted that I have to enter my password at least seven times before I can get rolling). Deal with any emails or other requests.

This is what my office cube looks like:

My workday in general:
As an accountant, I spend the bulk of my days preparing, reviewing, and approving journal entries, account reconciliations, financial reports, analyses, and statements/schedules. There's always a lot of planning work, too. Some days I have a lot of meetings and interaction with my team or other colleagues. Other days I work independently the whole day.

I've mentioned many times that I work for an amazing company that offers unlimited ways to get involved. Aside from my accounting work, I'm also frequently attending trainings, info sessions, management updates, webinars, and other company initiatives.

12:30 or 1:00 PM
I almost always bring lunch from home and eat at my desk. While I am eating, I will either keep working, or I'll surf the net. I prefer to eat lunch later rather than earlier because I think it makes the rest of the afternoon go by more quickly.

Working Out:
I try to use the company fitness center three or four days a week. Some days I will attend a lunchtime group exercise class (Zumba, yoga, strength, or core), and other days I will attend a mid-afternoon class (yoga sculpt, pilates, or another Zumba offering). Some days I'll go for a quick run after I get home from work.

If I'm on a deadline and/or don't have time to work out during the day, I might go to the fitness center after work to lift on my own. If the weather is bad I'll use a treadmill.

5:00 or 5:30 PM
Shut down the computer and head home. (Note, however, that during deadline weeks, I can be at the office much, MUCH later than 5:30 PM.)

5:15 or 5:45 PM
Arrive at home. Change out of my work clothes, go through the mail, run some errands if needed. If I'm heading out for a run, I try to get moving on that as quickly as possible. Get started on making dinner most days. Maybe do some stuff around the house.

7:15 to 7:45 PM
Dinnertime, depending on when Adam gets home. Once in awhile we'll go out for a quick dinner in the neighborhood.

8:30 or 9:00 PM 
Adjourn to the couch. Depending on the time of year, watch one of a few different things on TV. The usual suspects include whatever professional sport is in season for any Chicago or Pittsburgh team; the news; or some sitcom in syndication (Fresh Prince, Seinfeld, etc.)

I might turn on the computer on the side to blog or work if needed. Otherwise, I might talk to my parents on the phone or do some stuff around the house. I try to remember to do my PT stretching routine and/or foam roll before bed. If I'm feeling organized/proactive (sadly less than 50% of the time), I'll prepare the next day's lunch, outfit, breakfast, and anything else that I need to remember to bring to the office.

11:00 or 11:30 PM
Bedtime! I am usually asleep within 15-20 minutes of my head hitting the pillow.

So there you have it! Not very glamorous, eh? I am guessing most folks wouldn't expect anything too earthshattering from someone who works in an accounting role. But, I am grateful for the peaceful life that I have.

Incidentally - deadline weeks and weekends are whole other stories. If I didn't bowl you over with today's captivating recap, maybe I'll talk about those some other time?

[Looks around and sees everyone in this state:]

OK, maybe not.

Your turn! Please tell me about your typical day!