The daily grind: Nosheen Abbas

Journalist Nosheen Abbas tries to make sense of her busy days by mapping out her potential use of time. From double-checking facts for her stories to walking her little toddler, Abbas, she has us in awe of her juggling act!

5 am: Wake up, check on baby, and take a half hour walk.

6 am: In the office, wipe down my table (I’m pretty OCD), get my chair ready and open all my tabs (including my saviour: English-to-Urdu dictionary) and quickly scan the social media.

7 am: By now I’m working on a story, either news or a feature for BBC Urdu’s website.



8 am: I’m either starting on the second article or munching away on my oranges.

9 am: I’m either editing someone else’s story or working on my own.

10 am: I take a little walk outside because constantly looking at the screen gets a little tiring. I get pictures from home of my daughter Laleh (or a video these days), so I just stare at my phone for a while – smiling and wanting to squish her.

11 am: When I’m working on my own story, I’m making calls by now because people are finally up and accessible (unless they’re hard to get through to, in which case one becomes annoyingly persistent).

12 noon: By now I’ve started writing my story because I’ve got most of my facts and information sorted (although we’re constantly making calls to double-check our facts).



1 pm: Because the BBC works in over 20 languages, if our story has traction we’re often busy responding to other language services that want a story tweaked for their broadcasts – but mostly I work with our headquarters in London.

2 pm: Food time, depending on the workload. Sometimes we’re aggressively typing away while grabbing bites in between.

3 pm: Nowadays, I am on the early-morning shift so my work ends at this time, otherwise we’re usually in the office till 7pm.

4 pm: At home cuddling/playing and listening to Laleh, who at almost four months is gurgling and talking – a lot! (I’m sensing an opinion writer in the making). If I’m really tired and Laleh is napping too, we nap together.



5 pm: Sometimes I’m still in nap mode till now.

6 pm: Having an early dinner while watching Stephen Colbert or reruns of Seinfeld.

7 pm: If I’m working on a story of my own, I’m usually making some calls or working on it from home. Otherwise my husband and I take Laleh out for a walk.

8 pm: We’re usually getting ready to go out to a friend’s dinner/party etc.



10 pm: If there are no social commitments I’m getting ready for bed.

11 pm: Sometimes we have a girls’ evening, which involves unhealthy yet delicious snacks along with tons of chatter. Or some friends drop by just to hang out.