The past weekend has been super productive. I didn’t expect much when I signed up for this year’s Blogopolis event but I’m really happy it turned out to be very insightful and information-packed! It was amazing to sit through so many talks and gain inspiration from some of the industry’s best bloggers. It was great to listen to their success stories and how much potential there is in blogging. What a great way to be reminded of how everything is now turning digital!
Thanks to a challenge posed by Globe, this is my chance to take a look, track, and share my own digital lifestyle on a typical day. I am aware of how tech-savvy everyone has gone about but I didn’t realize how I have already been so dependent on gadgets and technology. 😉 Here we go…
If my body clock which makes me wake up at around 5 or 6AM fails me, I already have a connivance with my trusty phone. It is set to remind me after every 15 minutes from my planned wake-up time. Spoiled as we probably all are these days, I get to sleep in a bit more because of the SNOOZE button! 🙂
My alarm tone is the same as my ringtone alert as I love tricking myself that someone’s calling me so I’d be forced to get up and check my phone in the morning. 🙂
I check my Flipboard app for the morning news (no more black stains on my fingers like what I’d usually get as a kid when I read the morning papers!). I read 2 of the country’s major broadsheets via their websites and I also skim through some breaking news from local and foreign news channels’ Twitter accounts. (I remember when I felt some quick shaking waves one time, I immediately turned to Twitter and Facebook and that’s where I confirmed an earthquake occurred because of real-time posts from other people all over the country. The same thing happens when a celebrity dies or gets into a mishap, Twitter and Facebook are my usual news bearers!)
As a blogger, I check my emails and update my blogs – I have three right now and having mobile access to all of them provides ease in getting them updated. For my marketing work, I am also used to exchanging emails with workmates even via mobile phone. Microsoft Office documents and PDF files are now readily viewable and even editable!
For my doodling blogs, I work with a mouse, sometimes a drawing tablet or just an iPad.
When on the go, there’s no excuse for delays, I make doodles using a sketching app on my phone! This also keeps me distracted when waiting for something or someone.
As a personal rule, I don’t check my messages or tinker on my phone when I’m having breakfast with other people. But at times when I don’t have a choice but be physically alone, I still get to find someone to join me and virtually accompany me via messaging apps like Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook Messenger or KakaoTalk. I get to have breakfast buddies from Qatar, Canada, Chile, Singapore, or Quezon City. 😉
I get to squeeze in some sisterly duties at times. When my sister likes my Instagram post at a time I know she’s on the road, I get to lovingly nag her through a comment that she’s not supposed to check her Instagram feed while driving (!!!). On some occasions, she gets to consult me on what dress to buy when she’s in the mall. I become a virtual shopping assistant as I give my opinion after I get a flood of photos of her inside the fitting room.
Some friends also send me their salon photos asking me to help them choose what nail polish to use and show me pics of their newly permed or rebonded hair.
It’s interesting that through Instagram and Whatsapp, I get to exchange videos and photos with a fellow illustrator from South America. Aside from learning so much about another person’s background and culture, I also gained a business partner. My friend Carolina Perez and I are now partners in a doodling blog we call the Distance Doodlers. 🙂 We get to doodle and collaborate even when she’s all the way from Chile! Our daily bonding is in the form of short video clips and voice recordings capturing random moments!
The same thing goes for this blog, Random Republika. 🙂 One of my college best friends (and he’s also my thesis mate!) Paolo is currently based in Singapore. Our meetings and planning sessions for this joint blog are mostly done through Skype calls! 🙂 We meet and brainstorm in every digital way possible — even Google Drive! Who would have thought an Excel or Word file can be a chat box?! 😀
For my other errands and activities, it’s pretty cool that there seems to be a suitable app for each.
BILLS PAYMENT – Whether it’s for the credit card, electricity, or the calligraphy workshop I signed up for (which I learned about through my Instagram community!), mobile banking transaction is such a blessing!
MOVIE SCHEDULE CHECKING AND RESERVATION – GMovies app
When on the road, I seek the help of Google maps or Waze to assist my geographically-challenged self!
I’ve lost count of how many times transport apps have also saved me from long queues for a cab on a Friday night. And there was one time I took a jeepney ride in an unfamiliar area, I forgot to switch my phone on silent mode. I secretly tinkered on my phone inside my bag to check if I was on the right track through Waze. On full volume, the Waze voice-over played and said something like, “Drive safely. Let’s go!” 🙂 *facepalm*
When stuck in traffic, I take a class or two via online class apps or watch the nightly news on a handy TV phone. 🙂 If I really missed an episode of a show I love, I watch it on mobile when I come home at night. 🙂
I end the night with a meditation session available on Spotify (my music buddy too when it comes to my infrequent workouts and my daily showers — yes, I have a Bath Time playlist, hehe.)
Right before sleeping, I send good night messages to my family and friends based abroad and set my alarm(ssss) for the next day! 🙂