It starts with waking up and exuding awesomeness.

Okay, in all seriousness, being a work-from-home data analyst has led to a lot of great things including better pay, no commute, no talking to customers, and a much better work-life balance.

If you’ve ever wondered what being a data analyst or working from home actually looks like, this is for you. Here is a look into my world.

6:00am: I wake up and immediately get ready to go to the gym.

I am the opposite of a morning person, and for most of my remote working career have woken up 5-10 minutes before clocking in for the day. However, I recently started hitting the gym before work and it has greatly improved my life.

In addition to the health benefits of working out, I have seen a dramatic increase in my energy during and after work, gained a sense of accomplishment by achieving something first thing in the morning, and firmly slapped my seasonal depression across the face. I can’t recommend this enough (working out before work and slapping your depression in the face).

7:30am: I drink a protein shake from my fridge and take a quick shower before work.

8:00am: I hit my desk at 8 o’clock sharp. I let my computer connect to Wi-Fi and VPN then I check my email on Microsoft Office and direct messages on Microsoft Teams.

Depending on the day, I might have a couple meetings, run SQL queries, clean and analyze data in Excel, analyze and visualize data in Power BI, improve existing SQL queries, or do an ad-hoc analysis.

A lot of the reports I oversee use quarterly data, so with it being the first month of Q1, I am now pulling Q4 data for these reports from my company’s enormous database with SQL, exporting the data into existing Excels, refreshing and checking Power BIs, and implementing changes to make these reports better.

Once this month is over, my attention will shift to showcasing insights and trends from these reports and doing similar processes with other reports.

9:30am: After working for a bit, it’s smoothie time. This provides me a good break from work to make a healthy breakfast.

This is a big advantage of working from home as in almost any work environment, I wouldn’t have access to a blender or smoothie ingredients. The best alternative would probably be to buy a smoothie somewhere for like seven bucks (smoothies are often expensive!).

After my smoothie is finished, I wash the blender, throw in a load of laundry and it’s back to work.

11:00am: I take a break from work to wash some dishes and change over the laundry. Another perk of working from home is getting house chores done during the workday. I need breaks from work anyway, so might as well get some laundry and dishes done.

12:30pm: Lunch Time! If I worked in an office, I’d either have to get up super early before my commute to make lunch to sit for four hours until lunch time or spend money to eat out.

Because I work from home, I make my own food which is often throwing something into the oven (usually a homemade pizza) and eat some raw fruit or veggies. I usually will sit at my computer while the food cooks then watch an episode of a TV show like the Office while I eat.

After eating, it’s back to work. If I have no meetings, I’ll probably work the rest of the day from my couch with laptop in my lap.

2:00pm: I cure those afternoon woes with a stroll around the neighborhood. Especially during the summer, I enjoy taking several walks throughout the day. I’m almost always wearing earbuds, and recently, the audio selection has been the music of Childish Gambino.

I think it’s good for me (and probably everyone) to get moving and be outside as much as possible. That Vitamin D goes a long way. After the walk, it’s time to finish the day.

4:30pm: I log out of work. The great thing about my job and many data analyst jobs is that I work 8 hours a day, every day (even though I am a salaried employee).

At this point, I have had a great workout in the morning and have finished work. With both of these tasks being done, I am proud of myself.

4:30pm-8:30pm: During the time immediately following work (assuming I have no plans), I enjoy reading, watching TV, watching movies, playing board/video games, and working on my TikTok and other things. This allows me to relax and enjoy my evening.

8:30pm until I fall asleep: If there’s something to do that night like attend an event or a sporting event I want to watch (like a University of Kentucky basketball or football game), I’ll stay up late. If not, I’ll read until I’m ready to fall asleep and get all the rest I can to charge up for the next day.

Obviously, not every day is going to be the same, but this is a good example of what a lot of days look like for me.

Thanks for reading!

If you’re interested in working from home or becoming a data analyst, check out my social media below. (Feel free to DM me on Insta.)

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