Each week is very varied for me, especially given the pandemic and the nature of my work. Nonetheless, I thought it might be interesting to see what a week is like for a graduate forensic consultant in London.
The first week of December has been quite different from the past few weeks - although lockdown ended on 2nd December 2020, I was working on two projects, one of which has a very tight deadline, meaning that whereas most weeks I'd see friends after work, I had to cancel some plans in order to fulfil the deadline.
30 November 2020
On Monday, I woke up at 7am for my morning run, as I do every Monday, and then got ready for work. The commute consisted of ascending some stairs to an upstairs bedroom, which was easy, although I'm definitely excited to get back into the office (even if it does mean an hour commute each way). Work was fairly busy, and I was on minutes for the first time, meaning that I had to transcribe all of the important aspects of the weekly team meeting, including how each project is coming along, as well as new opportunities and marketing. In the evening, I started 'The Chain' by Adrian McKinty, which was highly recommended to me by a good friend of mine.
1 December 2020
Given that we were still in a lockdown, this Tuesday was fairly uneventful. Nonetheless, we bought a Christmas tree (which was too tall for our house) and I finished my book. The Chain is a thriller in which a child gets kidnapped and can only be released when their parent kidnaps another child, whose parents then have to kidnap another child for their kid to be released, and so on - hence The Chain. It was an enjoyable read but not ground-breaking - to read my full review click here. I only run every other morning, so on the mornings that I don't run, I instead read, which allows me to achieve my Goodreads Reading Challenges, whilst still making time for friends in the evenings.
2 December 2020
This was a big day: the end of lockdown 2.0. I used Strava for the first time on my run and really enjoyed using it, especially the feature of seeing your route on a map. After a busy day at work, drinks were in order. Luckily I finished work on time (17:30) so I managed to decorate the Christmas tree and the house with my family, before heading out for drinks with some friends. We needed to order a 'substantial meal' in compliance with the new Tier 2 guidelines, so we ordered some tapas for the table and had a proper catch-up over some wine.
3 December 2020
The end was in sight - two more days of work and then I'd have a whole weekend of relaxation. I spent the morning reading, and then started work. This Thursday was quite eventful at work: firstly, my manager called me to let me know that I could in fact work from Lisbon for 4 weeks in the New Year (I had asked to work from Portugal a couple of months ago but it wasn't initially possible), then I was asked to prepare a 10-15 minute presentation on Madeira for the following day's whole-team meeting. Surprisingly, I'd finished my work by about 18:00, and was planning to see some mates after, however I received a last-minute message asking me to carry out a couple of other tasks, meaning I only finished work at 21:10. Given that pubs and restaurants close at 22:00, it didn't make sense to see my mates, so instead I watched a Christmas film with my family. The film was 'Surviving Christmas', and although I enjoyed the beginning a lot, I got bored of it by about halfway through, so wouldn't really recommend.
4 December 2020
This Friday I didn't manage to go on my run in the morning as I had to run through my presentation before the whole team meeting. The presentation went well, and work was very busy, Nonetheless, at the end of the day I was drained and just wanted to relax, so I decided to have a couple of friends over for a wine night. Before they arrived, I wrote some Christmas cards, as although I don't usually send them out, I decided it would be a nice surprise for some of the uni friends that I haven't seen in months.
5 December 2020
On Saturday I had a mini lie-in (until 08:30), and then went for brunch with a friend at Millie's Lounge in The Ned. The venue was lovely, with live Christmas music and excellent service. We then walked around London, seeing the Christmas lights, and meeting other friends along the way. I needed an evening to properly relax, and used Saturday evening to finish another book: 'It's Not About the Burqa' by Mariam Khan, which is a collection of essays by Muslim Women. I found it very interesting, however a couple of the writing styles didn't flow as well as I'd have liked. Nonetheless, I'd recommend this book. I usually try and watch one of the plays from 'The Shows Must Go On' on Saturday afternoons, which are performances playing on YouTube during the pandemic, however they're only available for 24 hours in the UK so I missed this week's show.
6 December 2020
Usually Sundays are my most relaxing day. Take last Sunday for example - I made pancakes for my family for breakfast, then went for a wholesome walk with some uni friends in Savill Garden. This Sunday, however, was one of my busiest days; it started with running 10km with my dad at 7am for the first time in months, as I want to build up my stamina to eventually run a 10km or half marathon next year. I then sorted out my investments, played the piano, did my washing and edited some blog posts before going to Somerset House for lunch in an igloo. I'd wanted to dine in an igloo for a couple of years, but had never gotten round to it, however now that I was earning I decided to treat my family to a nice, festive meal. I really loved the lunch and would strongly recommend the experience - stay tuned for a blog post on London's igloos soon. In the afternoon, I edited some more blog posts, and then went for dinner with some school friends at Le Bab, which is located in Kingly Court and was very nice.
As mentioned before, each week varies greatly. Some weeks I finish at 17:30 daily and see friends everyday, other weeks I am on study leave or have college for the ACA qualification and therefore have to revise, and some weeks we are in a lockdown so I stay at home a lot more. Nonetheless, this was one week in my life and I hope you found it interesting.
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