Cora

A very normal tuesday: the anti-aesthetic day-in-the-life

Eight to twelve phone clips of an ordinary day, one lowercase line, your voice over it. No montage, no glow-up, just the day. · 2 min read

Everyone is tired of the 5am-routine reel. The anti-aesthetic day-in-the-life is the opposite: eight to twelve phone clips of an ordinary day, one plain lowercase line typed in Instagram's own text tool, and your voice quietly saying what actually happened. No montage, no transitions, no colour grade, and the format is everywhere right now.

Why it works

A normal day told honestly gets the comments the perfect one never does. People don't relate to the glow-up; they relate to the kettle, the commute, the dishes at nine. The lack of polish is the point. It reads like a voice note from a friend, not a production. And because it asks for nothing fancy, you can actually make one every week without burning out.

What you need

• your phone, in one hand, all day
• Instagram's own text tool (the rounded default, white, centred)
• 20 to 30 seconds of quiet on the walk home for the voiceover
• about 10 minutes at night to put it together
• Cora, to park the reel in the Plan tab

Step by step

1. Cover: one still from the day. The bed in morning light, the desk, the kettle. In the reel editor, type the line with the app's text tool: lowercase, white, centred, default size. 'a very normal tuesday'. Leave it in the middle of the frame.
2. Clips 1 to 4, morning: wake, coffee, getting dressed, leaving. One to two seconds each, handheld. No music yet.
3. Clips 5 to 8, the middle: work, lunch, the errand, the walk. Keep the real sound, the keyboard and the street, under the voiceover later.
4. Clips 9 to 12, evening: dinner, the dishes, the couch, lights off. End on a still, not a cut.
5. Voiceover: record once, on the walk home, 20 to 30 seconds. Start with 'so today i…' and say what happened, not what it meant. One take, no retakes. Lay it over the clips with original audio on; if you add a track, keep it at 10 to 15% under your voice and check it's cleared for business accounts.
6. Caption: 'a very normal tuesday. no routine, no glow-up, just the day.' Hashtags: #dayinmylife #averynormalday #realday.

Make it yours

• Mom life: 'a very normal school day'. The lunchboxes, the car line, the 3pm snack negotiation, the couch at 8.
• Business / UGC: 'a very normal client day'. Inbox, the brief, the shoot corner, invoices, the second coffee.
• Beauty: 'a very normal studio day'. The first client, the trolley, the lunch you forgot, the sweep at 7.

Swap the day of the week, keep the word 'normal'. That word is the whole hook.

Plan it in Cora

Save the card, shoot the clips through the day, build the reel at night and drop it in the Plan tab at the slot Cora suggests. The reminder tells you when it's time to post.

Cora · hello@coraplanner.com