civineerArticle originally appeared on Sky Daily Online Newspaper.
4.00: I am up and having the usual cold shower. A practice I had before CORVID – 19. It makes me come alive and fully alert to start my day. I am a morning person. So I better start it smelling nice and fully ready.
4. 15: Tahajjud. Prayers to God to end CORVID-19. Because that is the miracle the world needs now.
4.30: I start punching my keyboard. Writing my minimum 300 hundreds a day. Writing is therapeutic to me. The answer to my “If you had 20 million dollars today, what will you do with your life?”
5.40: I pray Fajr namaz alone at home. I read the Holy Qur’an. I am trying to be very religious these days. I do not know if this is the end. Adele’s song Skyfall “This is the end. Hold your breadth and count to ten,” starts playing in my head, again.
6.15: I am back on my computer. Working on my application for a second master’s degree. It is a triathlon. Crazy tough but rewarding. If applying to the schools takes this long and is arduous, how tough will taking the classes actually be when I get admitted?
07.00: Munching breakfast. A bowl of muesli cereal made with room temperature water. Then a bite of apple. A drink of the effervescent 1000 mg vitamin C. An antibiotic. A cup of Four Red Fruits Twinings Tea.
08.00: Work at home begins. I email my supervisor what I need to get done today. I need to turn it in by 17.00. I commit myself.
08.05: I go back to working on my personal work (not office work) because I was in the flow. I didn’t want that to just ebb way.
08.30: I resume office work. Reviewing a report submitted by a consultant I am managing.
09.00: I check my WhatsApp messages and status updates. It is like a contest. Everyone is hurrying to report the number of cases by NCDC. As if we are not following them on Twitter? I only click on a few people posts. Those that share insightful stuff like John Doe.
10.00: I stop work to walk around the house. I wash my hands with soap while singing Happy Birthday to You. I make another cup of tea. I light the scented candles Abdul got me as a gift. It smells so masha Allah.
11.15: I will usually check social media; Twitter and Instagram. But because I am on social media detox in a bid to keep my mental sanity, I click on Apple iBooks. I am reading 4 books at the same time. I do not want any reason to click on social media apps. So I can now click on 4 different books. The Book Thief, Talking to Strangers, Men are from Mars Women are from Venus, How Successful People Think. When I get bored of one, I jump to the other.
11.45: Back to office work. I reply to some emails from my supervisor. “Get a letter from FCT Water Board postponing the World Water Day Celebration due to CORVID-19”
12. 30: I stretch on the couch. I start reading one of my books. “You believe someone not because you have no doubts about them. Belief is not the absence of doubt. You believe someone because you don’t have enough doubts about them. Quote from the book Talking to Strangers by Malcom Gladwell”.
13.10: I pray Zuhr namaz at home. There was no call to prayer from the masjid. Strange times. Ya Allah!
13.20: I start feeling a headache. I become paranoid. No wait. I am not sick. It is neither CORVID-19 nor PORVID-20 (poverty virus). I am hungry. I snack up on dambun nama (pounded dried spicy beef) and I dash to the kitchen.
13.30: I wash my hands. Then I prepare lunch. Boiled potatoes, with scrambled eggs, fried tomato sauce and beef sausage, served with cold baked beans. Yummy!
14.00: Lunch is served. I log into Youtube. I watch some short clips from The Big Bang Theory. “You don’t screw the roommate agreement. The roommate agreement screws you.” Screams Sheldon to Lenard.
14.30: Lunch is over. Back to work. I answered a work phone call.
14.45: I feel sleepy. I stretch on the couch. And sleep off.
15.15: I am up and back to workstation. The dining table. I start writing a website article report for a training we recently conducted with an NGO called Stop Don’t Drop. Soundcloud is playing in the background.
15.30: I throw in some dambun nama again with the chop sticks.
16.10: I pray Asr namaz. I remain laying on the carpet. I stretch my spinal cord. A tailor calls me. I am owing him money. I messaged my business partner to pay him.
16.15: I resume work again.
17.00: Official time for work to end. But because I started 30 minutes late. I have to recompense for that. I keep on working.
17.45: I attach all the documents I wrote and sent to my supervisor. “End of work day.”
17.46: A reply came in. He couldn’t open it. The attachments were heavy.
17. 52: I stretched on the couch. I checked Twitter. I had a few mentions. What did I even tweet last? “Why are so many people leaving Abuja. What part of the prophet’s hadith didn’t they understand?” As you will expect, different opposing views and many in agreement and many RTs. I didn’t reply anyone.
18.00: I log back into iBooks. I start reading Men are from Mars…”We mistakenly assume if our partner love us, they will react and behave in certain ways- the ways we react and behave when we love someone.”
18.45: Maghrib namaz.
19.05: I am back on my computer. Taking an online course on Life Coaching. I think I will launch the business once the pandemic is over. If we make it out alive.
19.35: I got a phone call. Then I called many people.
20.15: Isha namaz. Then I start to feel hungry again.
20.30: I prepare dinner. Noodles. And a bottle of Five Alive Pulpy. Experts say we shouldn’t take processed sugar. I didn’t bother. I downed the whole bottle.
20.55: I am back to watching Youtube. And personal work and did many random things. I spoke to my mom on the phone. People are roaming the streets in Birnin Kebbi. Issorait!
21.50: I wrote in my gratitude journal. “Being (hopefully) CORVID-19 free, having money to stock up on a week’s food needs, having a good house to observe the “stay-at-home”. Nice friends. My job for allowing me to work at home for as long as I wish.” Then I wrote in the Diary. “…”
22.00: My legs start itching. Time for my night walk outside the home. I plug in my headset and dash out in my Miniso flip-ons.
22.30: I arrived back home. Another cold shower. Jumped in bed. The Big Bang Theory for my last laughter of the day. 2 minutes into watching, I become so sleepy. I throw the phone faraway from me. Takes off my glasses. And close my eyes.
Sadiq Abubakar Gulma works from home in Abuja. Talk to him on Twitter @SadiqGulma