5.00 AM
During the week, I like to go to the gym. The classes don’t start until 6 am but this gives me enough time to get ready, pack my bag for work, make breakfast, and drive to the gym.
After my class, I get ready for work at the gym and drive straight to the office. The office is around 20 minutes away and there is usually not much traffic, which is nice.
7.45 AM
I like to be in the office by 7:45 am. This gives me some time to put my lunch in the fridge (I like to bring my own, but there is an in-house café that offers heavily subsidised food), fill up my water bottle, make tea, and set up my desk ready for the workday.
8.00 AM
I start the day by going through my emails and any notes I made the day before. In my role, I get to handle relationships with volunteer community organisations. This means people usually respond to my emails after work hours or during the weekend. I spend the morning carrying out these tasks. These are usually related to setting up the organisations in our payment system to disburse sponsorship funds.
I also check my outlook calendar. I like to be prepared for any meetings I may have by reading through any documents or emails related to the meeting. I will also look through my team’s calendars to see if they have anything interesting I can attend with them.
10.00 AM
On Monday we have a team meeting. The Team I am in currently isn’t very big. We do have a couple of staff who are on a fly-in, fly-out rosters or are based remotely. The team who are based in Perth will sit together in a boardroom and the off-site staff will join via video.
The meeting allows us to discuss any broader company-based directives as well as share what everyone in the team has been working on, such as any wins or losses. The tasks throughout the team are varied so it is always interesting to hear what different people are working on.
11.00 AM
After the team meeting, I was tasked with arranging a photographer to meet up with one of our staff members in Hedland to get some photos with one of our partner organisations. This involved engaging the Communications and Brand Team, the partner organisation staff (both Perth and Hedland based), the photographer, the shoot location staff, and our staff member. I put together a brief, so all parties were on the same page and had everyone’s contact details.
12.00 PM
I usually take my lunch break around 12 pm. The office is only a 10-minute walk away from the river. I like to walk down, sit on the grass, and read my book. This is a good way to take a break to get some fresh air and get my steps up.
1.00 PM
In the afternoons, there may be a project meeting. This is where key staff involved in a project will meet with the project manager and go through each person’s role in the project and where they are currently at. For stakeholder management, this is important as it is an opportunity for our team to capture information about each team’s engagements. These then go into a register for the project so we can keep track of our obligations.
2.00 PM
Throughout the afternoon I will continue to work on bigger tasks I’ve been given. These are usually a report for another team within the business. My team is great at allowing me the opportunity to have a go at different things despite not being in the business for very long and having limited experience in this space – but I am getting the hang of it.
At any time throughout the day, I will usually get random but important tasks to complete. These range from drafting a letter to a Chief Executive Officer of one of the Aboriginal Corporations we engage, to drafting a proposal for a road re-alignment. I enjoy receiving varied tasks and the opportunity to have my input which is appreciated and used throughout the business.
5.00 PM
Home time! I pack up my desk and take my laptop home each night. This is because of the uncertainty around the COVID situation, you never know when you’ll need to be prepared to work from home.
There is usually a bit of traffic on the drive home, so I arrive home around 5:45 pm. I am undertaking further study so if I have outstanding tasks for that, I will finish those. I also try to go for another walk, have some dinner, and read.
9.00 PM
9:00 pm is late enough for me unless the chapter I’m on is too good to put down, then I’ll push it out to 9:30 pm.