Work remotely

An online teacher’s life: My day

Joanna Horanin

Like my website?

Hi there! 👋 I’m Joanna, author of The Blond Travels. If you find my articles helpful, I’d be happy if you could follow me on Instagram, or . Support from readers like you means a lot to me and helps to keep this website alive. Thank you! 🙏

I am a teacher, but I do not go to school, I do not work in a classroom, I do not go to parent-teacher meetings and I do not run through the corridors with a register. So what do I really do? What does my day look like? Do I get bored? Do I lack company? Let me introduce you to my life.

After a few years, finally, I understood what my profession was. For a long time, I did not even know how to answer the question “what do you do?”. Today I know that I am above all an online teacher and a blogger. I have two jobs that fill my days to the brim and make me extremely happy. Today I will tell you how my work and everyday life look like.

Immediately I would like to mention that this post is not meant to show me as a perfect person with a perfect routine. Some aspects may inspire you to change, others will seem boring, and some will probably be so unimportant that you will miss them and forget them straight away. The article aims to show you the life of a person who works remotely in one place. It is not directed only to those who want to become teachers online, but if you have such ambition, this post will be for you.

Online teacher’s time management

Working for yourself has this one disadvantage that it is often difficult to either motivate yourself or get up from the desk and forget about what you are working on. Being your own boss and running a business is difficult. You have to be very resistant to stress and know how to organize your time to relax, regenerate and work efficiently.

The work of an online teacher is all the more demanding, because a lot of time is devoted to working with people, preparing classes and planning. A lot of energy is put into lessons. If you also run social media, send newsletters and work on marketing, and you are a full-time blogger, you can easily lose yourself in the work.

For some time now I have been trying to organize my time so I have it for work, but also for pleasure. I try to achieve a balance in all of this. Have I succeeded? See for yourself!

A day of an online teacher and a blogger

Reading blogs of other bloggers I always have the impression that their days are so productive and they look like from a magazine. Water with lemon in the morning, bending your body into a pretzel to the sounds of shamanic drums, vegan breakfast or fasting until 12:00, and then work at high speed and reading books about the power of mind in the evening.

While it all sounds wonderful, you know how it is … Life doesn’t look like that and life of these bloggers is probably far from perfect.

And what about me?

For me, it is half – half. Sometimes I roll myself into a pretzel, but this pretzel is often on the couch and it precedes a nap. I often eat vegetarian food, but I will not say no to a good steak. I like self-development books, but I also love fiction and time from time to time I read those with sexy vampires, a devil dressed in Prada and colonies of humans trapped in space.

Yes, I am only a person and I do not spend every free moment on perfecting my body and mind. I’m fine with who I am.

So how does my day look like?

Morning

Now you will have to forget about what I wrote earlier, because I will sound like a blogger whose life is perfect. I love mornings and feel the most productive then. That’s why I squeeze out of them as much as I can. I really like to leave a lot of time for me to slowly eat breakfast, wander around the apartment, embrace the stillness of it.

When I first started, I would get up very late and take a lot of time to wake up. Now I have my routine and even though I work from home, I always try to look and feel as if I was going to work like other people. It helps a lot to stay motivated.

At 6:30 am Mitsy, my cat, wakes me up. Mitsy very much likes to announce in the morning that she is hungry or that it is time to have fun. Unfortunately, we do not sleep long at our home, which is still OK with me, because I have been getting up early for a few years now.

The first thing I do is checking messages. I know that this is not healthy, but I do it because sometimes my students that have lessons in the morning, cancel them and then I know I can spend more time on other things.

I get up before 7.

Sometimes I go running. In November last year, I discovered an application that helps me achieve my dream 10 km. You can really see results straight away. I run on average 3 times a week.

Sometimes I fold myself in a pretzel and practice my asanas. Yes, I also belong to those who love yoga. Generally, any sport that does not require me to work in a group and does not make me too tired is for me.

And sometimes I do not do anything and stay in bed until 8am because….why not, right?

After a shower, I put make up on, dress and eat breakfast. I can not function without it and I always have to eat something. This makes me think better.

My breakfast consists of porridge or cereal with fruit. When I eat I listen to Thai. I use ThaiPod 101 application, which is really great for independent Thai learning. I’ve been learning the language for 2 years. I’m still on a strong beginner level, but learning Thai makes me very happy.

Immediately after 8 I sit down to work. I start the lessons at 9, but I have to repeat the prepared material, reply to emails and check social media.

Always, regardless of the day, I have at least one lesson in the morning. I have arranged for myself to be more motivated to get up.

The number of teaching hours in the morning changes depending on the day. Sometimes it is an hour, sometimes 2, sometimes 3, but not more. Recently I noticed that 3 lessons in a row are very exhausting, so I try not to teach more than 2-3 hours in a row.

Around 11:30, like clockwork, I start to be so hungry that I would gladly eat a horse. I usually eat lunch at home and it consists of a sandwich, an egg or something that was left from the previous day.

Once a week, I meet Chris for lunch. Then we go to a tasca (traditional Portuguese bar), where I order a very non-vegetarian dish and drink wine.

Afternoon

Generally, my afternoons consist of work. It never ends. When it seems to me that I have finished one project, then the second comes soon. Besides, I always have so many ideas that I want to implement. There are days when I forget to get up and stretch. If it were not for the fact that I have a small bladder, I would probably be sitting at my desk until the evening.

The time in which I do not teach, I try to share between The Blond Travels and the things that I need to do for OK English. Writing blogs, social media and recording vlogs take me a lot of time and fill up every free moment.

Around 15-16 there is a crisis. This is the worst moment of the day for me, because I really want to sleep. I’ve tried everything: running, yoga, sitting on the couch and staring at the wall, washing dishes, cleaning up, going shopping. Nothing helps. Sometimes I just give in and sleep with Mitsy nestled in my legs. I know that I will not win with this afternoon fatigue. That’s why it’s better to give up and wait until 5 until it passes.

From 5 I often have a second series of lessons. I teach till 7pm, and sometimes up to 8pm.

After the lessons, I still plan another day, I automate social media, I organize administrative things that need to be done. Only then can I relax, which often means dinner with Chris, reading a book or watching Netflix (by the way, I think that Netflix is ​​a great source that helps in learning a language and if we know how to use it, it is not a waste of time).

Exceptions

My exceptions are Wednesdays and Fridays.

On Wednesdays, I only have one lesson in the morning and then I have free time. I go to yoga in the early afternoon and if it’s warm, I spend all day outside. I go to the river, for a coffee or to one of the libraries to work in peace and quiet.

On Fridays I finish work at 2 or 3pm. I spend the rest of the day as I want: I go to yoga, take a nap, read or go to the city to meet with friends.

Weekends

Once I wrote that often Saturday is a me day, a day when I treat myself and rest after the whole week. It has changed since I moved back to Europe. The pedicure time for 5 Euros has passed. That’s why I invented a different way to feel that I rest.

Saturday is the day when I do not sit at my desk and even if it’s an emergency, I leave the computer untouched. I like to go somewhere, visit something, do some sightseeing. Saturday is my day of pleasure.

I have never liked Sundays. That’s why I do not attach too much importance to it. I try to relax a bit on that day, sleep a bit longer (if Mitsy will allow), go for a good coffee, and in the evening I often watch movies that are far from being ambitious. Good old Rambo makes me the happiest.

So as you can see, my life is probably not the most fascinating. I have my own little hobbies and my habits. I try to live reasonably well, time to time I do something that nutritional gurus and self-development coaches would disapprove of. I just think that you need to have balance in everything.

I dreamed of working from home for a long time and now when I have it I try to enjoy it as much as possible. It’s sometimes hard, but I do like my daily routines and wouldn’t give it up for anything.

Do you have any questions? Would you like to share your experiences or your point of view? Don’t be shy! Leave a comment!