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How do you start your work day/what does your day look like?

9 replies

LaReinaDelMar · 28/06/2023 09:22

Just having a cup of tea before I start and it made me wonder what others do.

I work from home so occassionally I get up and do my exercise in the morning, usually I stay in bed until the last minute and do it in the evening. If I'm up earlier I'll do a bit of minor cleaning like sweep the floors, any washing up like cups or glasses since last nights w/up was done.

Then I get washed and dressed, make a cup of tea and sit down to the computer for my start time.

I then open Outlook, Teams, the spreadsheets I use, a database I use, whatsapp and chrome. I open our accounting package and spotify. The I check facebook, mumsnet and hotmail, doing any life admin befoe looking at my outlook and working through the emails I've received.

I'll clear my emails quickly and then get on with my own work, while carrying out peoples requests ad hoc as they come up.

A few times a week I have teams meetings that I find disruptive to my own work.

I don't take a lunchbreak as such, as I'll stop and do quick things that might need doing as and when (if i didn't sweep or wash up earlier etc)

When I finish I go and do whatever that days exercise is then have dinner, watch some tv and then retire to bed to look at my phone for a few hours.

OP posts:
EmpressSoleil · 28/06/2023 09:44

I WFH full time. I'm awake anywhere between 6 and 8. I'll have a coffee in bed while browsing on my ipad. One of my cats will usually jump on me and demand some attention.

I'll log onto the work laptop after that, quick browse of MN

EmpressSoleil · 28/06/2023 09:46

posted too soon! My hours are flexible so I work for an hour or two then usually do something else for a while, household chores, gardening, hobby stuff. So I'm on and off my laptop at various points. Usually cook for around 6-7. Watch a bit of TV, go to bed around 9 and read for a while.

TheChosenTwo · 28/06/2023 09:51

On my wfh days (Monday - Thursday) I wake up, sometimes exercise, Shower and get dressed, wake the kids up, make breakfast and packed lunch for the youngest, unload the dishwasher and quick reset in the kitchen, fold last nights washing which is dry by morning, sit at desk and log on. dc leave shortly after.
on my office day I wake up, shower and dress, wake kids, make lunch and breakfast for the youngest, pack work bag and leave for the train.

LunaTheCat · 28/06/2023 09:55

I struggle to get to sleep so I am not as earlier riser as I would like to be!
I get to work at 8 or 9.. whenever rostered to start.
I am a GP and so I am usually full tilt with patients every 15 mins and paperwork.
I have a morning and afternoon tea break but I may pour myself tea or coffee but don’t have a break as I am always running late!
I have 15 to 20 mins lunch and often leave at 7.30 pm … I can only work 3 days per week at this pace and I am usually in over weekend to catch up.

beeskipa · 28/06/2023 10:17

My day sounds a bit like yours.

If I'm WFH - up at 7(ish), maybe a walk round the 'block' (through the playing field behind the house and around) to wake me up if I'm feeling especially energetic. Tidy the kitchen and empty the dishwasher while I make a coffee, usually stick a wash on.

Upstairs, say good morning to everyone on Teams, quick glance at my emails to see if anything mega is in there, open our shared planning document on Notion, say hi to a few specific team members. Then I work in chunks of time broken up by e.g. taking my washing out of the machine, watering my plants in the garden etc. I don't have many meetings except a Monday, which I hate because the entire morning is meetings, so I generally just get on with my work unless someone needs something specific off me. I almost always have a podcast or YouTube video playing on my second monitor while I work, which is genuinely the main reason I love WFH - it helps me concentrate.

I don't take a dedicated lunch either, usually. Sometimes DH and I will have lunch together, but usually I'll go and grab something and eat at my desk.

I'm guilty of staying at my desk way too long in the evening so DH has started sticking his head round my door when it's finish time and forcing me to come and hang out downstairs for a bit while we prep tea, feed the cats, etc.

I start earlier and finish later than I do on office days, but I get SO much more work done and get time to do house jobs too, so I much prefer it.

Kabbalah · 28/06/2023 10:40

NHS ICU.

Long day shift: up at 5.15 to leave by 6. Get to work and into scrubs ready for handover.

On my feet all day looking after seriously sick/injured ppl, unfortunately, 1/2 our patients don't make it so you have that to deal with. If I'm lucky I'll be able to grab something to eat, pee and or coffee but sometimes you just don't have time to think. If there are no emergencies I should be away after handover. Scrubs in the laundry thing, hot shower and back home by 8-8.30.

By then I'm ready to eat a scabby donkey. Husband or daughter/s will have a meal ready for me, bless. Coffee crossword and a chat, ready for bed by 10 to do it all again the following morning. Nights are just the reverse altho I get something to eat before I leave.

Shift patterns can cover weekends ( I've done 7 in a row ), high days and holidays, including Christmas day, kids or not.

Started my training at 18 and qualified at 21. So, apart from a relatively short break to have three kids I've been doing this for over 20 years.

Abouttimemum · 28/06/2023 10:43

Up at 6.30 usually, tea in bed and then total chaos trying to get DS4 up and dressed and out of the door for 7.30 - DH takes him to nursery. Exercise for half an hour, quick shower and logged on for 8.15. If I’m going into the office i usually get there for 9ish, or skip exercise and get in for 8.15ish, doing the exercise on the eve when DS is in bed.

I generally don’t eat until 10ish

LaReinaDelMar · 28/06/2023 10:45

Kabbalah · 28/06/2023 10:40

NHS ICU.

Long day shift: up at 5.15 to leave by 6. Get to work and into scrubs ready for handover.

On my feet all day looking after seriously sick/injured ppl, unfortunately, 1/2 our patients don't make it so you have that to deal with. If I'm lucky I'll be able to grab something to eat, pee and or coffee but sometimes you just don't have time to think. If there are no emergencies I should be away after handover. Scrubs in the laundry thing, hot shower and back home by 8-8.30.

By then I'm ready to eat a scabby donkey. Husband or daughter/s will have a meal ready for me, bless. Coffee crossword and a chat, ready for bed by 10 to do it all again the following morning. Nights are just the reverse altho I get something to eat before I leave.

Shift patterns can cover weekends ( I've done 7 in a row ), high days and holidays, including Christmas day, kids or not.

Started my training at 18 and qualified at 21. So, apart from a relatively short break to have three kids I've been doing this for over 20 years.

That sounds gruelling, but thank you for what you do 🙌A relative of mine has been in ICU/HDU/Addenbrookes for the last few years, just about coming out the other side now and apparently shes a bit of a celebrity in medical circles but what they've done for her has been truly amazing. You're all angels😇

OP posts:
Babdoc · 28/06/2023 10:57

Retired now, but used to be hospital doctor, specialising in anaesthetics.
Morning routine was getting the kids up and ready for school, then commuting half an hour to work.
Change into scrubs, into operating theatre, check anaesthetic machine and monitors, draw up drugs for first case. Attend briefing with surgeon and nursing staff. Wait while nurse goes through endless checklist with patient - who is often either deaf or demented, which prolongs it further - then get them into the anaesthetic room.
Insert cannula while nurse attaches monitors. Sterile prep, open kit and insert spinal, or induce general anaesthetic. Transfer patient into theatre. Fill out paperwork, record vital signs on chart, administer any drugs required to support bp or heart rate, adjust IV fluids.
Get out Times newspaper, commence crossword. Nip to coffee room to collect cup of tea while anaesthetic nurse minds the shop. Stand cup on anaesthetic machine and sup intermittently while keeping patient stable. Discuss England’s world cup chances with surgeon. Catch up on family gossip with the nurses.
If patient awake and spinalled, chat with them about the progress of their surgery, the idiocy of the SNP, or the patient’s wartime reminiscences. (I once had Douglas Bader’s wingman as a patient!)
Rinse and repeat for subsequent cases.

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