A typical working day in North London

Written on August 12th 2010

Written by 55 year old female Speech & Language Therapist from North London

I’m a 55 year old woman living in North Finchley, London. I work as a speech and language therapist, part-time for the NHS and part-time privately. I live alone as I’m divorced and my 26year old daughter has left home. I am also a writer - with a few pieces published. I am an active member of The Greenacre Project. Today promises to be a fairly routine work day.

7.15. My day starts with a shower, dressing and breakfast - cereal with a banana and blueberries. Leave the house at 7.45 to drive the twenty minute journey to the hospital where I work. (Today is the first anniversary of when I bought my car. My last one was 20 years old, when someone smashed in to it and wrote it off.)

8.15. At work, the first thing on the agenda is coffee whilst I check e-mails and letters. Today I don't have a clinic, so am catching up with paperwork and reports that need to be sent out as I won't be back in the office until Monday week. After interruptions from phone calls, non-functioning passwords on the PC and a headache caused by the very loud, droning voice of a colleague from a different team who works in our office, I complete all the urgent work but there is still piles of non-urgent stuff that will be awaiting on my return from a week off.

12.45 Head over to the canteen with another colleague, who I haven't seen for several weeks as we work different sessions, and catch up. I eat the sandwiches I brought from home.

1.20 Drive to the home of one of my private clients. A 7 year old who has a specific language disorder. She is doing well, and her literacy skills are coming on. Verbal reasoning and difficulty following instructions, because she cannot retain sequences of information, are her weak points which we are working on today. She is my only private client today.

3.00 Return home, where another pile of admin jobs awaits, including writing up the session, checking e-mails, and sending e-mails on behalf of the Greenacre Project supporting the possibility of gaining Village Green status for an area of local land. The post has brought a parking fine notice incurred by my daughter! I run out to post three photos for our local Community Summer Show photogragphy exhibition and get home to find I have omitted the best one - a small camel train in the desert region of Oman taken on last year's holiday.

6.00 I'm getting hungry so have a quick make-do supper, then a few minutes later my daughter phones to say she'll pop in and she'll be staving. I'll have to cook something after all! She'll need her strength for that parking fine.

6.30 I log on to the on-line women’s magazine that I both read and write for. One of my articles was published yesterday. My article for the next issue of The Greenacre Times, which I help, produce, is about local man, Harry Beck, who designed the London underground map. I read through the comments made by a member of the Greenacre Writers on a chapter of my novel. All useful and helpful in improving one's writing. The group met last night where we commented on work submitted by two other members. We are all aspiring novelists. We are serious about our work but have realistic views on the difficulty of getting published. I put the papers aside and prepare a simple meal for my daughter.

7.50 She arrives from her gym and eats her meal while I have a cup of coffee. She tells me about settling into her new job which she started yesterday. So far, so good, friendly colleagues and good training. As a plus it's in Hampstead! She won't be using her psychology degree in an estate agent, but in these times of recession and redundancies, she's glad to have a job after six month of temping. She is adamant that that the parking fine is unfair so she'll contest it!

10.00 My daughter leaves to go home to her shared flat about ten minutes drive away. It's too late to phone my mother, who lives in Burham-on-Sea, so will do it tomorrow to have our usual weekly chat and confirm my visit next week.

10.30 I take my book to read in bed and look forward to immersing myself in another novelist's world.