Day ??? of trying to keep anxiety at bay by writing little bits in various places, this being the main one. So here it is, my last day in April summarised.

5:10 am – Joe has apparently decided to be a human alarm clock and wakes me up earlier than I actually need to be up (he has not yet gone to bed himself). This later works against him as I genuinely forget to turn my actual alarm off (a progressively more irritating pink old school alarm clock just in case my phone decides to freeze or die or do an update or something overnight). I rarely set it because mostly I just like to wake up naturally, so I usually forget to turn it off.

5:40am – I leave the house and dash to work. Even the canal ducks are still asleep. It’s set to be a beautiful day but at this time it’s only eight degrees, so I reluctantly take a coat, knowing I’m going to look like an idiot later.

6am – A new customer, a lovely midwife with far more energy than I have at any time of day, is on the coworking floor putting on makeup while waiting for me. She kindly offers to make me a coffee (people typically feel right at home even when they’re new to the space, and often ask if they can make me a drink. I’m more of a diet coke girl, but it’s too early even for me to consider that).

She’s doing her first ever podcast episode, guesting for someone in Australia who she’s never heard of before. She’s super nervous and wants me to listen through her notes and also talk about a lot of different bodily fluids for someone I’ve only known for about half an hour, but I go with it.

6:30am – All the tech setup and tests are done. At this point I look up at the screen where the hosts have now arrived, and realise in shock she’s guesting on Anna McEvoy’s podcast. One of the world’s most beautiful women – I will not be taking any other opinions on that – is actually smiling at me in real time. As well as genetic superiority, she also has the advantage that it is in fact late afternoon for her and not 6:30 am, but little does she know that she too will soon be hearing about lots of bodily fluids.

6:35am – Happily the tech setup from our side is good enough for Anna’s needs first time, so I say hi/bye, leave them to the podcast, go upstairs and spend a lot of time murmuring “what the fuck” to myself while prepping stock photos and buying a new ring light (ours looks like it’s been in a war and has suddenly stopped working).

8:30am – Customer dashes off to her next thing, I reset the podcast studio and semi-setup for the next booking and go back to end of the month newsletter stuff.

9:30am – Customers come in to use the meeting room. They’re self-service regulars so nothing is needed from me and they know the drill.

10am – Lovely employee Emma arrives. A group of charity workers arrive to co-work, unexpectedly bringing a fridge’s worth of chilled food with them. I realise that there’s actually a fair amount of stuff already in the fridge that should have been binned ages ago, and that I need to do this right this second so they have enough space. While doing this and onboarding them I brief Emma on today’s tasks.

11:30am – Someone’s podcast guest accidentally arrives an hour and a half early for their booking, and disappears again to get his car cleaned (???) I quickly email the customer to let them know, and Emma and I finish setting up the studio. The customers are recording a podcast with a doctor who shows us his MBE, tells us about how he saved his brother’s life after a snake bite, and has come to talk about a revolutionary cooking pot he’s invented for people in Africa.

11:45am – Podcasters ask if we have a wooden spoon. Which, surprisingly, we do. (So far the things I’ve been asked for that we don’t have: a bluetooth speaker, alien-themed props, a lighter, and a disco ball. Which were all requests from different people, and I’m not keen to open up several more worlds of potential pain).

“It’s never even been used!” they exclaim. I was surprised that they were surprised about that, given the only cooking facilities we have are two microwaves. (Maybe the spoon hasn’t been used for cooking, but it’s definitely been used for photoshoots, which I am far more likely to be involved in than actual cooking).

12:45pm – I sit down at my laptop to continue work and one of our regular coworking customers appears and tells me that one of her relatives has been shot dead while doing a Tiktok Live. I am floored by this and have no idea what to say, but it becomes evident that listening is more important than anything else right now, which feels like the least I can do.

1:50pm – Everyone seems as taken care of as they can be right now, so I go back to my laptop and continue work on the day’s tasks.

2:30pm – Suddenly realise I’ve not yet eaten anything and that’s why I can’t concentrate (well, that and only having five hours’ sleep), so I have a packet of crisps and two chocolate Hobnobs (left over from banoffee pies I made a while back because there were leftover bananas from an event and they make the best base, you’re welcome. Absolutely don’t use them for cheesecake bases though, learned that the hard way).

3pm – Realise that writing is the best way for me to process things, so start writing up the day so far and murmur “what the fuck” to myself some more. Then back to end of the month stuff, emails and messages.

4:10pm – The podcasters have left so it’s time to reset the studio, run a test, install a firmware update, and generally set up for tomorrow’s 9am booking. Then back to laptop.

6:30pm – The last people leave, so we do a fire alarm test and a very quick tidy round for tomorrow. Oh, and I remember to do a Duolingo French lesson (after many weeks I have learned very little beyond Je m’appelle Paul).

7:30pm – Home, time for dinner (spicy vermicelli noodles and egg fried rice).

8:30pm – Crash out on the sofa watching Trump’s 100 day speech (hit pause from the day before), because oh my god the rambling.

9:50pm – Wake up in an absolute mood because I’m exhausted, still haven’t sent the newsletter, and somehow the heating has been switched on instead of the air con and it’s 27 degrees. Plus I feel pretty sick from suddenly eating such a big meal and the disorientation of my sleep pattern being well and truly disrupted.

10pm – Quickly finish everything and send it, then decide I need to go to bed properly even though it’s still early.

10:45pm – A small flurry of Facebook notifications as new customers read my email and ask to join our Facebook group. While that’s happening, I come up with and post several Instagram Stories for The Createry. From bed, like the good lord intended. Anna instantly hearts the story I tag her in (it’s already well into Friday in Australia by this point).

11:30pm – Debate reading or playing something, decide I’m far too exhausted to even think straight, and just decide to properly get ready for bed and go to sleep. Apparently I’m no less tired than usual, because I’m asleep in minutes.

5:45am – Naturally wake up (body: you want to be up this time, right? This is what time we got up yesterday! toddler brain: yesss, let’s get up and play Mario Kart!).

No, we are going. back. to. sleep.

Arghhhh.