Let’s face it, we spend hours watching other people’s day-in-the-life’s on TikTok and wishing we could be that productive. We accuse them of trying too hard, doing too much, exacerbating the “it girl” stereotype. What if I told you that these days-in-the-life’s might not be made with the viewer in mind, but for the creator?
When I made my first day-in-my-life, I honestly did it to try and exploit the fact that I live in LA and go to an awesome school. And okay, there might be a little part of me that thought I could become an influencer. But since starting that one video, and making about one day-in-the-life TikTok per week, I’ve realized that on the days I vlog every single thing I do, I get significantly more things done. I have two theories about why this might be the case.
First off, when I have to create a material log of everything I achieve in one day, I want to make it impressive for both myself and the viewer (I am usually the viewer too though because I give myself most of my views to be honest). When I vlog my days it feels like someone else is watching, like I have to make them watching worthwhile.
Secondly, social media is inherently fake by definition, and we are trained to try and make content that is extraordinary so we stand out. Therefore, when we vlog our days we try to make them impressive and unrelatable. It is more impressive and unrelatable to film a quick snippet of myself doing homework than vegging out in bed watching Gossip Girl, so that’s what I do. But, the act of taking out my homework to take a video makes me more likely to do it, so then I end up doing more homework than I would have without someone “watching me.” In the same way, I might go to the gym when otherwise I would skip, or honestly even go to class when in the same mood on an “unwatched” day, I might take a nap instead (parents, if you are reading this, that was a joke, I don’t ever skip class). Overall, social media is “fake it til you make it,” and in this case I always end up making myself more productive.
Even though people might cringe at my day-in-my-life’s, honestly they are my life hack for getting stuff done that day. If I know I have a packed schedule one day and I also have a packed to-do list, I make a day-in-my- life to hold me accountable for everything I need to do. So, I would encourage everyone to try it out. Post it to private, delete it after you make it, but just make one! See if it gets a couple extra things off your to-do list.