Sometimes, when I am bored, I watch DIML stories on social media. DMIL, which means Day in My Life, showcases the daily routine of the individual and sometimes is super interesting to watch. Inspired by these videos, I decided to do a DIML story; only instead of a video, it will be a blog post. Hopefully, my day is interesting enough to make readers want to continue reading the rest of this post.

I am and have always been, an early riser. These days I wake up at 4 am so that I can get an hour of peace before everyone else wakes up. I do not snooze my alarm, and once I am awake, I am awake. I usually go from sleep to wake state in seconds, and this is one of my superpowers. The first thing I do after waking up is to check my phone, and I know this is a very bad habit, and I am trying to get rid of it. I am taking baby steps, so fingers crossed I reach the stage where my hand does not automatically grab my phone as soon as my eyes open.

After freshening up, I head to the kitchen, where I prep for everyone’s coffees and also make mine. I also do a basic prep for the day’s lunch by soaking rice and washing the vegetables to make a sabzi. I also add low-fat Greek yoghurt to my prepped oats which is my usual breakfast. And just before I drink my coffee, I drink my pre-soaked fenugreek seeds and cinnamon powder before I drink my morning shot of bitter gourd and Indian blackberry juice. I drink this because I am diabetic, but I am not sure how effective it is. Then I sit back and drink my coffee. I drink black coffee with no sugar and have been drinking this for many years now, even before I was diagnosed with diabetes. I didn’t like the taste of the milk in Singapore, so I made the switch, and now, it’s hard for me to drink coffee with milk. Sometimes, as an indulgence, I do add sugar to my coffee.

After my coffee, it’s time to do one of two things – either go back into the kitchen and start cooking for the day or if there is not much to do, I start the rice in the rice cooker and then put on my earphones and start my meditation. I use an app to meditate and combine it with walking. It’s my take on walking meditation. I meditate on different tracks, depending on my mood, though my current track is a 35-minute rendering of the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra. My usual walk is a 3.5 km indoor walk which takes me about 45 to 50 minutes to complete. Once my walk is done, I finish up any pending cooking and pack any lunch boxes that need to be packed.

Then I have a bath, do my skincare, light the lamp in front of God and do my prayers. And after that, it’s time for breakfast which I eat watching YouTube videos. My work set-up is such that I use an old laptop which is on its last legs as a video monitor. I like watching videos either on YouTube or other OTT platforms while working as I like the background noise. After breakfast, I switch on my laptop and start working. Usually, around 8 am, I have a call with my parents and sister, which lasts between 45 minutes to an hour. We started this call last year after my parents moved to the retirement community, and it’s been wonderful to stay connected with all of them. By speaking daily, we know everything that goes on in each other’s lives intimately.

After the call, it’s time for my mid-morning cup of tea. I like drinking different kinds of tea, especially the non-caffeinated ones. My current favourite is the Kashmiri Kahwa, and I rotate between a few that I have on hand. I continue working until lunch, which I have around 11:30 am. After lunch, it is my time. I usually take a 60 to 90-minute nap post lunch because of food coma and also because I don’t get enough sleep at night. Some days, I don’t sleep, but spend that 90 minutes watching videos or reading.

I have my second cup of coffee around 2 pm and continue working. I try to stop working around 4 pm. I have an alarm on my laptop which tells me that the workday has ended, and most days, I stop within a few minutes of this alarm. But there are days when I am into something or want to complete something and let the alarm slide.

Depending on what I make for dinner, I will then either finish my daily steps and my final walking meditation or start prepping for dinner and the next day’s lunch. I will usually chop vegetables and prep for lunch and simultaneously make dinner. Once that is done, I start walking. My last walk is usually a 2 km indoor walk which I do while listening to more meditation tracks. This varies and is usually soothing tracks, allowing me to relax at the end of the day. I am done with meal prep and steps by 6 pm when I light the lamp and say my evening prayers. After lighting the lamp, I browse social media and read until it’s time for dinner.

We usually have dinner between 7 and 7:30 pm, and by the time we clean the kitchen, it is close to 8 pm. I would have already switched on the air conditioner in my bedroom, and when I get into my room, the room would be deliciously cool. I lay down in bed and scroll my phone and then start my bedtime routine, which includes brushing my teeth, washing my face, and doing my skincare. And then it’s back to bed, reading until it’s lights out, anytime between 9:30 and 10 pm.

So this was a day in my life. It may be mundane or boring to some, but it is my life and I am content with how it pans out.