A Day In The Life Of

I started Day One on the suggestion of @josiahwiebe and after reading @joshuaginter’s support of it. One of my intentions was to use the app as a way of practicing my writing. I’ve been pretty shy about writing online, so this gives me a way to write often. With the launch of Publish yesterday, I thought I’d share one of my favourite techniques for sticking with Day One.

One of my favourite magazines is @kaibrach’s Offscreen. In every issue, there’s a section called A Day In The Life Of where contributers write down a timeline for one of their typical days. Inspired by this, I began doing my own A Day In The Life Of-style journal entries and it’s become my favourite. Before I started journalling this way, I had a tough time coming up with things to write about. I didn’t know whether I should write down just the important events, or whether I should write down my thoughts for the day. This format, though, provides structure, encouraging me to write down events often, and allows me to add comments where I wish.

So without further ado, here’s A Day In The Life Of Jon Dueck:

9:30

A number of my classmates just were in SXSW the past week, so a number of classes have been optional including this morning’s class, so I allow myself to sleep in.

10:30

Coffee & Toast with about an hour to work on schoolwork before class. I just bought a bag of Matchstick coffee. I’m using a Lanch Centre Pro action by @josiahwiebe below to log my coffee. We’re currently making thirty-second commercials for non-profits in Visual Techniques. Because it can be hard to line up a video shoot, I’ve decided to create a motion graphic piece for the Lothar Schmidt Art Award.

11:30

Time to catch the bus. The weather has been fairly nice (for Manitoba) recently, so walking to the bus stop is a lot more enjoyable than it was a few weeks ago.

12:00

Visual Explorations class. It’s mainly a work period for us to work on an in-class editing assignment, and our commercials. My instructor, Paul Kroeker, also goes through some interview lighting techniques for us to use in our final assignment.

14:00

We get let out of class early, so I catch a bus home. While waiting at the bus stop some classmates and I discuss work placement and job opportunities. With our final year of the programme coming to a close, the reality of finding a job is setting in.

14:30

I stop in at Shopper’s Drug Mart to pick up a few groceries before walking home.

15:00

I get back to working on my thirty-second commercial. I have very little experience with After Effects, so every little animation is a learning experience. Luckily @yohnniee has been helping me in exchange for some help setting up his Siteleaf website.

19:00

I’ll be working on homework tonight, so supper will be a college-classic of chicken fingers. I find a few articles to read on Twitter.

19:30

The Canucks are playing in Winnipeg tonight, so I put the game on my secondary monitor while I work.

20:00

Working on this entry in between building my personal site. Putting a bit more effort into Day One on this one, knowing that I’ll be Publish-ing it.

20:30

After putting the finishing touches on this article, I Publish it. Obviously, I usually include the whole day, but I’ll leave you with this.

(Launch Center Pro action by @josiahwiebe)

I’m not sure how I’ll end up using Publish. It’s a unique service. I can see it being used occasionally for very personal blog-type posts, but it’s quite different from a blogging platform. Perhaps it could be used to publish candid accounts of life events that are different than a blog post where you take time to write and edit.

What kind of writing formats do you use for Day One? If you’ve tried formatting your entries in a similar way, how does it work for you?