As we near the end of these blogs, I thought I’d give an x-ray vision into a (relatively) typical day at The Wright VA Head Office. There are no other offices in the company, just the one in our recently built loft conversion (which took 3 years; but that’s a whole novel right there), but ‘Head Office’ sounds good. 😉
So, what does a day look like? Oddly, everyday can be the same, but very different. I’m sure this is the case across the board.
My day always starts with a cup of tea. PG Tips has been the go-to brew for decades, but with the recent difficulty of getting hold of a box, we’ve had to move to Yorkshire Tea (for hard water). WOW – sooo good. Highly recommend it and it’ll take a shortage of Yorkshire to go back now.
When the first cuppa’s gone, it’s time to head up to the office, with a second cup of course and turn the PC, printer, and radio on. FYI, it’s the breakfast show on Magic FM before turning over the Chris Country for the rest of the day. Please don’t judge.
While everything is loading, I take a look at the planner (big paper diary!) to remind myself of any meetings or calls I may have in the day and read the to-do list to register what’s in store for the day for each client.
After opening all the apps and client Google profiles, I dive into Outlook. I go through each mailbox, checking the inbox and junk folder, and occasionally the sent items. I get a quick overview of what’s come in overnight and do a triage of priorities and then go back to the relevant mailbox to action. Check out my Blog I for Inbox Management, for ways to manage an inbox.
Calendars are also part of this check to ensure the diaries are as I ‘left’ them the day before!
When all emails are responded to, actioned, deleted, or added to the to-do list, I will then move on to the to-do list and action the tasks that are on-going, project based or need to be done a certain day or time of the week.
Time for another cuppa, and a social media catch up.
I’ll then re-visit the mailboxes to ensure nothing urgent has come in. When looking after clients’ diaries, you are used to last minute emails saying “help, I’m running late / can’t find the venue / can’t find a link” etc so it’s also being mindful of what my clients are up to (when and where) to pre-empt such messages and ensure they are responded to swiftly.
Continuing with ‘general admin’ or on-going tasks for the remainder of the morning with yet another quick check through the mailboxes before breaking for lunch.
After lunch, before getting back to the to-do list to see what’s to be done, another inbox check-in.
Mid-afternoon, I’m often nipping out to the local post box for a client, and if it’s not raining or I don’t have urgent tasks to complete, I will opt for one further away to get a bit of fresh air. And if I’m up to date with bits for the day, I quite like to go for a longer walk to catch up on a podcast.
Returning after fresh air and a stretch of the legs, it’s another inbox check-in and finishing up tasks for the day.
At the end of the day, I update the to-do list, cross off what’s been done and add other tasks that have cropped up in the day to it. It’s then a quick check of the planner to see what’s in store the following day and to clock if I have any early morning meeting.
This is generally my day to day, but is often dispersed with client calls, check ins, and organising and sorting a fortnightly network meeting that I co-run.
If you find yourself too busy and want someone to check in on your inbox regularly or take the pesky repetitive tasks off your daily or weekly ‘must get done’ list, then click HERE to drop me a message and let’s schedule a chat.
