A Day with GID's Jin Yi — Madame Architect

5:30/7:45am: I don't really have a consistent waking time. I'm actually not a great morning person so I typically hit snooze about two to three times. On days I work out, I get out of bed around 5:30am, on days that I don't work out I typically sleep in as late as I can, which is about 7:45am.

6:00/8:00am: This varies depending on weather - If its nice out and I'll decide the night before if I am going to work out in the morning or just go into work. On days that I work out, I pull on my biking clothes or running clothes which I always lay out the night before, wash my face with cold water to wake up, and make and drink an espresso during which I'll glance through emails on both my personal and work phones to see if there's anything urgent and check my work notebook to remind myself of what the day might shape up to be like. Then I head out to exercise - in the spring, summer, and fall I'll bike up through Brooklyn into Long Island City where I'll go climbing with some friends. In the winter I go to early morning spin classes in Dumbo or run a lap or two through Prospect Park. Depending on where I work out, I'll shower at the gym or at home, and then either bike the rest of the way into Manhattan via the Queensboro Bridge, or catch the subway in from home.

9:00am: First thing at work, I always take a minute to eat my adult gummy multivitamins - I used to always forget them when I left them at home so now there is oddly just a jar of gummy multivitamins sitting on my desk - it is actually a tiny ritual that I really look forward to when I come in to the office. I have a comfortable black leather Herman Miller chair that a wonderful friend of mine gifted me that sits low enough for me to rest my feet on the ground (a rare thing when you are as short as I am!), and also a large grey exercise ball that I switch to which helps keep my excess physical energy in check throughout the day. I'll alternate sitting on the grey exercise ball if I'm feeling particularly high strung or antsy and back into the chair if I am hyper-focused or marking something up that requires steady a steady, still position. After taking a minute to sit down I turn on both my monitors and scroll through in order from oldest to newest emails quickly making a handwritten list on a series of sticky notes and in my work notebook separating tasks by priority and amount of time it takes to complete them. After this initial day start however, the rest of the day is never very predictable as there are many things that come up on site that need immediate attention, or require visits to local subcontractor factories or commissioned artwork artist studios to review mock-ups and design proposals.

12:00pm: I made a point a long time ago of eating only when and if I am hungry - this honestly actually started as an mechanism by which I could save money when I first started living in New York City, and then it just became a habit as years went by. It has had the nice outcome of keeping me from falling into the practice of being mindless about what and when I eat for meals, though I do find I always keep snacks in my office drawer. Depending on when I actually become hungry, lunchtime can range for me anywhere between 11am to 4pm. Typically I'll run out and pick something up on the go when that happens - one of my favorite places to pick things up is a sandwich at Sfilatino on 57th Street as it’s on my way from my office to site.

3:00pm: Similarly, the rest of the day can be unpredictable - entire days in the office at my desk reviewing drawings, spreadsheets and renderings, or traveling to multiple New York City boroughs to review and coordinate items, or running back and forth to site. Somewhere in mid-afternoon I slide in a quick coffee run.

6:00pm: I update my work notebook with a list on a new page for reference the next morning and discard the day's sticky notes that are typically stuck on various areas of my desk by the end of the day.

7:00pm: Most nights of the week I try to go out to lectures or exhibits (there are so many free amazing things in the city if you look hard enough). If I don't have any activities after work scheduled, I'll typically read on the train home and then cook a quick dinner. I do love eating meals alone - I'll pull out a book or a notebook if I'm working on a site competition or just writing out some ideas. One of my favorite places to grab a quiet meal alone is at Barboncino, where they'll typically slide a candle to me at the bar so I can read or write while I eat seated in my favorite spot at the last seat at the end of the bar near the wood paneled wall.

9:00pm: Many days a week I'll call my twin sister and put her on speaker phone while I do chores around the apartment, prepare for the next day or do a little more work at home.

11:00pm: I make my bed right before I get back into it - not very rational but I always rush out in the morning so most of the time the bed is unmade, but I still like getting into a made bed, so I'll make it right before. Bedtime varies depending on level of fatigue, but typically I try to be in bed before midnight. I don't fall asleep easily so I'll read until I feel tired enough to sleep, which can take up to an hour sometimes.