A Summer Day in My Life as a Creative in Copenhagen

Healthy office culture, design things, and finally the space to make work I care about

When I think about the life I have now, I don’t think of it as perfect. But it’s honest. Spacious. Built, slowly, piece by piece.

t’s not the life I had when I first started out. I was a management consultant, working in finance at a Big 4. It was the kind of job people nod at approvingly, but behind the scenes it felt like I was always catching up. Long hours, constant travel, a quiet pressure to be someone I hadn’t quite become yet.

Eventually I moved into digital at Aritzia’s head office, leading major programs, managing teams, with tight deadlines and unrealistic expectations. I learned a lot. I worked hard. But my sparkle started to dim. I didn’t feel creative. I didn’t feel seen. I was tired in a way that rest didn’t fix.

And for a long time, that felt normal. You don’t question the pace when everyone around you is sprinting. You just try to keep up.

But something about moving here, this city, this light, this slower life made me start to wake up. To what I actually wanted. To how I actually worked best. And to how I wanted my days to feel.

Here’s what a summer work day looks like now.

---

Mornings
The light comes in early, but I don’t get up right away. I stay in bed for twenty minutes with a mug of coffee, still half-tucked under the covers. It’s my favourite part of the day, hearing the drip coffee maker bubbling in the kitchen, the quiet hum of the city just starting to move. I still use a classic drip machine. There’s just something about it I can’t give up.

Eventually I get up, shower, light an Aesop incense in the corner of the apartment. Then I step into the walk-in closet I built when I moved here. I pick out the Copenhagen look of the day. Usually something simple, tailored, one accessory that gives it a little extra flair.

I leave the apartment by 8:40. It’s a 20-minute ride to the office, past the lakes. I hop on my city cruiser, put on a podcast, and watch the swans have their morning swim. The light bounces off the water, people walk slowly with coffee cups, and it all feels like a good omen.

---

Creative work
By 9am, I’m at Barkas. The studio feels like a real studio. Big windows, music in the background, coffee always going, someone’s screen already full of wild typography explorations. It doesn’t feel corporate. It feels like a place where good ideas actually have room to grow.

Right now I’m working on a rebrand and digital experience for a VC firm in the States. But it’s not your typical investor website. They want something unexpected, bold, elusive yet immersive.

I’m the digital product lead on the project, which means I’m across all of it. The strategy, the structure, the delivery. I help shape the approach, guide the creative developer, manage the client relationship, and keep the whole thing moving forward. But I’m also in the work itself.

I pull references, sketch early structures, map out the UX, and get into the details of how the brand should feel online. Some days that means designing the full site framework, thinking through pacing, hierarchy, what shows up when. Other days it’s more visual, developing AI image concepts and creative expressions.

The lines between roles are fluid in the best way. I get to lead, but I also get to make.

And that mix, the ability to move between strategic thinking and hands-on design, is something I spent years chasing.

---

Lunch
There’s a restaurant beside the studio that makes lunch for us every day. Always fresh, organic, simple food. It’s one of the perks of working here, but more than that, it’s just how things are done in Denmark. Lunch is expected to be eaten together. It’s usually provided or heavily subsidized. And people actually make time for it.

On warm days, we take our plates outside and eat by the dock.We talk, laugh, complain about the wind, share weekend plans.

It feels like a proper chill break. Not a break squeezed between meetings or an email sprint with one hand. Just a real part of the day.

It’s such a simple thing, but it reminds me of how different my life is now. Back at Aritzia, lunch involved being in a Zoom meeting saying “sorry i’ll be camera off because I’m eating”.

Now I sit down. I chew. I taste things. I feel full. Which is apparently much better for your gut health to reduce bloating.

---

Afternoons
Back at my desk, the second half of the day starts to take shape. Sometimes it’s meetings. Catch-ups with clients to walk through design progress, talk feedback, make decisions. Other times it’s creative sessions with the team, looking at layout directions, swapping references, adjusting image placements.

I move around the office a lot in the afternoon. Sofa for writing. Windowsill for focus. One of the recliners if I’m editing something and want to feel slightly more horizontal about it. There’s always something to snack on. Fruit, chocolate, sometimes someone sets out a tub of ice cream and spoons just appear.

Around three, I usually pop out to La Bachina and grab a coffee. I sit by the water for a few minutes, let my brain breathe, let the afternoon light do what it does. It’s small but it helps.

People start to drift out between four and five. I never really notice it happening. The room just gets a little quieter. I’m usually one of the last ones there, without trying to be. No one is trying to get some extra points from having their manager see them in before 8 or here after 5. It’s a radical phenomenon that you can actually be a high performer by working normal hours, groundbreaking I know.

---

Evenings
After work, it depends. Sometimes I make it to the Pas Normal Studios social ride, usually on Mondays. Other days, especially if it’s raining or I’m craving something slower, I’ll book a pilates class.

But now that summer has really settled in, the calendar fills up fast. There’s always something happening. A design event. A wine bar DJ pop-up. An impromptu swim with friends. Someone texts, want to meet for a dip? And suddenly the evening has a plan.

By the time I get home, I’m usually tired. I drop my bag, feed the cats, wash the salt off my skin. I don’t always remember what I did that day hour by hour. But I get home feeling like the day was long, like how it felt as a child.

---

Night
By the time I get home, I’m usually ready to switch off. I move slowly. Feed the cats. Take a shower. Light some incense if I remember. I make a cup of tea and start my full skincare routine, nothing fancy, just some retinol and moisturizer

Most nights I try to be in bed before midnight. I’m not great at it.

Sometimes I hop on the couch and put on a quick episode of something I’ve already seen a hundred times. Just something light. Background noise while I work on a Substack draft or play around with personal creative projects I have been working on.

Eventually I make my way to bed, tea half-finished on the nightstand, laptop somewhere under a blanket. Then what do I doI do a quick TikTok scroll hehe. My days are full now. I don’t really scroll during the day anymore. So that little window before sleep feels kind of soft. Cozy.

I’m not going to lie and say I read a book. I’d love to be that person. But this works for me.

Takeaways

It’s not about being productive. It’s about having space.

Because the biggest change in my life isn’t the work or the city or even the swim routine. It’s the fact that I finally feel clear.

Clear-headed. Clear on what I care about. Clear on how I want to build.

I used to spend all my energy surviving the day. Now I get to actually live inside it.

More soon,
R x

Make sure to check out my Copenhagen Summer Series for my Top 10s if you are traveling here!