I followed Nayna Florence’s ‘day in the life’ and here’s how it went

As I awoke at 9:00 am I pondered the series of events that had led me down this path. I had had a traumatic night, involving a large, hairy spider previously spotted by my flatmate which had gone rogue, and was next seen at three in the morning climbing up my wall before somehow managing to land itself inside my pillow.

It was traumatic to say the least.

I wondered whether the overall Nayna Florence vibe of the sunrise photo I took could offset the fact that I had not fallen asleep until 5:30 am, whereas Nayna aims to be asleep by midnight, still, I had the whole day to try and improve.

Starting the day off as aesthetically as possible

Nonetheless determined to push on with my three and a half hours of sleep I made myself some breakfast.

I saw from Nayna’s Instagram and vlogs that she often has avocado on toast. Having neither avocado nor toast I had to make do with hot cross buns slathered in butter.

I attempted to take a photo of them that matched the beauty of Nayna’s but sadly my hot cross buns paled in comparison and looked rather sad. The art of making a plate of food look appetising is a talent I shall never gain access to.

Expectation vs the sad reality

Referring back to Nayna’s day in the life I decided that I would look around some independent Marchmont shops, visit the botanical gardens, and if I had time pop into a charity shop or two.

Nayna always seems to be in cute independent shops so I thought I’d start off with the Amnesty Bookshop in Marchmont, a very cute bookshop that has a really good selection of books.

I went in and perused through the books before remembering that I needed to take some vibey pictures. Once I had taken them I realised I didn’t actually need any new books, had taken my aesthetic pictures and so could make my way to the next location.

Next up was Forge and Foliage, an incredibly Instgrammable flower and plant shop. Much like the bookshop I went in, took some cute pics, looked at some price tags, and quickly put the succulent back on its shelf.

Now all I needed was a sponsor so maybe one day I could afford aesthetic greenery for my room like Nayna (Nord VPN, if you’re reading this please sponsor me).

Currently, all I have is my plant from the first year fair, which three years later has finally succumbed to the vodka I accidentally watered it with.

Next, I strolled down to Stockbridge and relaxed in the botanic garden. Again, I ensured I was taking some cute footage of the event, but also made sure to lie down on the grass and take in the moment.

Nayna always makes sure in her videos to relax and have some time to herself, and I found the gardens a perfect place to do that in. It made me realise how often in university you can go days, weeks, or months, without really checking in on yourself and decompressing.

Once I returned home I checked the plan again and saw that Nayna often has afternoon naps in her vlogs, an activity I was more than happy to recreate for this article.

Unfortunately I, like so many others before me, succumbed to napping for too long and woke up two hours later, disorientated, hungry and with a mouth that felt as dry as the Sahara. Whilst I was not feeling refreshed in the slightest I knew that I had to do what Nayna surely does when she oversleeps and power through.

Nayna told her viewers that after her nap she worked on finishing her dissertation, but as a third-year, I thankfully was spared from having to work on that. Instead, I did some generic work and responded to my emails, which ultimately somehow led me to endlessly scrolling through Instagram reels.

After doing my work/procrastinating I made dinner, and like Nayna, ate it while watching something on my computer, I opted for Princess Diaries.

As I said, taking appetising photos of food is not in my skillset

Nayna aims to be asleep by midnight and I was determined I would have a better sleep than the night before. Lying in bed I contemplated the day that I’d tried to recreate.

It can be so easy to compare ourselves to other people on the internet but following Nayna’s ‘day in the life’ made me realise that whilst she’s definitely a lot more proactive and disciplined in uni work than I am, she’s also just a regular uni student who oversleeps during a nap like all of us.

Seriously, unless you’re Nayna don’t even bother trying to take pictures of your breakfast or dinner, because I guarantee you will traumatise yourself. (And Nayna if you’re reading this please tell me your secrets of how you take the most aesthetic food photos because as you’ve seen I really need some help).

Related articles recommended by this writer:

• Interview: Nayna Florence on her time at Edinburgh University and what’s next after graduation

• 30 Edi-inspired tattoo ideas to commemorate your time at uni

• Here are the 12 most annoying people you’ll meet at Edinburgh