The First Hour of Your Work Day
How do you spend the first hour of your work day? That’s the question Kevin Purdy asked this morning over at Fast Company, and he highlights a few answers that have been given from people like Steve Jobs and Craig Newmark, the founder of Cragislist. I basically do the opposite of some of the suggestions, for example, the idea that you should avoid checking email in the first hour, as Tumblr’s David Karp does.
My workday begins the moment I wake up, which is usually between the hours of 5 and 6 a.m. I use my phone as my alarm clock, so the minute I shut it off, I start skimming emails to see if there’s anything I need to address (apparently, a lot of you guys send emails in the middle of the night—what is keeping you up?).
I then spend a significant amount of time reading, which is how I ended up discovering Purdy’s Fast Company article. I find a lot of stuff to read by checking what people are sharing on Twitter and Tumblr, and also the New York Times wire feed for up-to-the-moment stuff.
If there’s not a lot of reading I have to do, I’ll go for a quick run in the park, and then hop in the shower, followed by a banana or english muffin for breakfast, and throwing together a quick sandwich to eat later in the office. On the subway to work, I’m responding to emails on the phone, and confirming appointments and phone calls I have for the day. Next is coffee. By the time I get to the office around 8 a.m., I already feel very accomplished and ready to start blogging.
How do you start your workday?
Photo: Sean MacEntee
I usually get into work at about 9:30 or, oops, 9:45. I check my email (none, I’ve only been here a couple of months and no one in academia seems to work over the summer anyway). Sometimes I go get a coffee. Check all my other email accounts, checking my bank balance, read the news… Before I know it it’s noon and the most I’ve achieved is open some documents.
Wow this is making me realise that I am the worst employee ever. It’s 2PM here and here I am, procrastinating. GET OFF THE INTERNET.
@cmcm This IS academic summertime in a nutshell.
Uhhh, I rush into the office at 8:35, flipping on lights and opening doors, turn on my computer, run down to the vending machine for a Diet Coke (and maybe some pop-tarts if I don’t have any breakfast food at my desk).
Open up Outlook, iTunes, and Chrome, and go back and forth between my work email and my bookmarks (in order of appearance on my toolbar: iGoogle, Yahoo Mail, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, two music blogs, Videogum, Hairpin, Billfold, Yes and Yes, A Cup of Jo, Reddit).
This is actually probably the first 2-3 hours of my day. I’ll do little tasks here and there but unless I have a big project (or if my student assistant is coming in) I pretty much internet all morning.
That first hour of my work day is so precious to me! I’ll usually pick up some breakfast on the way into work, and eat that while scanning Google Reader/doing my personal web browsing. (Like this!)
I’d feel worse about that taking up a full hour if I didn’t have a job where I need to know what’s going on with current events and the internet.
Oops, some of those emails are mine! In fairness, it’s 1030 p.m. here right now to your 930 a.m., so it’s practically impossible not to send you email in the middle of the night.
I’m temping right now, so when I get to work (after a 20 minute train commute, during which I check email and FB and stuff) I check my work email, have a flavored soy milk box (I am determined to try all the flavors) for breakfast, and usually start whatever project’s on my plate within about 15 minutes. Sometimes nothing’s ready for me, so I have to surreptitiously look at the internet, which is difficult because the office is open floor plan with long shared desk tables.
@selenana But seriously, what are all the flavors?
@aetataureate Today I had kinako (toasted soy powder). It looks like this.
Other than that I have tried: Banana, coffee, vanilla ice cream, grapefruit, fruit mix, cocoa, and apricot kernel. Apricot kernel is my fave so far.
@selenana This is fascinating, where is the kernel on an apricot? Also, grapefruit soy milk sounds revolting!
@aetataureate I was wary of the grapefruit one too, but it just tastes like juice that’s a little creamy – like a smoothie maybe? Orange Julius isn’t revolting right? Ok I take that back.
The apricot kernel one is called annin, and it’s a pretty common thing in Asian desserts I think – ever get a kind of sweet fruity custardy tofu? Wiki sez about it here.
A quirky (?) thing about my company of 12 employees is that we only have three email accounts. All emails from my dept can only be sent from our admin’s computer and must be reviewed by atleast two people. So I don’t even have outlook on my computer – I usually spend my first hour in my own gmail clearing out my personal messages, glacing through my google reader, and then on the general web scanning news headlines. I find I need those minutes to clear my head befor settling into work. Although if I were bsuier at work I would have to give up that luxury.
The answer is Google Reader. I don’t use Facebook, thank god. Also, breakfast- and coffee-related trips to the kitchen.
my job involves manning our social media, so i spend the first hour checking on our friends, how yesterday’s posts did, and scanning twitter/teh blogs for stuff to tweet about. i check my work email and delete all the stupid email marketing from my personal email (i should really unsub from groupon), and then try to create a big-picture look at my day and block out an hour-by-hour to-do list, which inevitably goes awry but helps a lot with time management. i have a lot to do before going on vacation in a few weeks, so yesterday i spent time mapping out the next two weeks. also, i make myself some tea (i’m currantly drinking black currant from argo tea…hyuk hyuk) and eat a yogurt and granola or some crackers and cheese. i try to get into the office a little early to help my slow morning brain ramp up.
some coworkers like to get chatty in the mornings, which interferes with my work processes because i really feel the need to get something done before taking a break. when the chatting happens first thing, it just makes me anxious.
I get into work at about 7:30. First thing, I check my work email and make a list (on paper, so old-school) of all the things I want to get done that day. To get momentum, I knock out some easy things first– sending emails, writing brief memos, etc.
I like to get a big burst of work done before breakfast, which I eat around 10:30 if not later. It’s easier to be productive before the blogs I read start posting for the day…
I get in to work about 5-10 minutes before 8:00. I fill up my water container. I set my little reminder that goes off every 20 minutes telling me to stand up and stretch. I open a bunch of Billfold, Chronicle of Higher Ed, and Inside Higher Ed articles that I read slowly throughout the day, leaving the tabs open for later. Then I read through my email, scanning through the Federal Register and the Grants.gov mailing I get, reply to any emails I can reply to immediately, and get to work on the to-do list I made before I left work the day before (I make extensive use of task lists in Outlook, including attaching items and saving information in the body of the task). By the end of the first hour I have to fill my water glass again, and also the Billfold has started updating (though I only sometimes read that day’s posts on the day they’re posted).
I want to get into a schedule where I mostly don’t open/reply to emails until my once-hourly email check, but unfortunately I do have to have it open in case my boss emails me something she needs done immediately.
Making that to-do list before leaving the night before helps a LOT. I do whatever I need to be most clear-headed for first (I’m a morning person), because it usually has a couple of items that are all equal priority.
Take the dog out, eating, checking emails and websites while eating usually and starring any I might need later, dressed and tea. Then 1 hour commute downtown (this is when I am not working from home). I still usually spend the first hour waking up.
@Megano! Mine looks more like this when I’m not working in an office – take the dogs out the minute I get up, then look at email and stuff. Maybe get around to food and shower after the first hour.
Ugh I definitely spend way too much time in the first hour of work–often the full hour–checking email, FB, and blogs while gradually opening up an important document here or there. I know I need to get better at this!
I dream of being as put-together in the mornings as Mike Dang. As it is, I struggle to wake up by 7. On days that I’m not going for a run, I can push it till 8. On days I need to run, I really have to be up by 6:30. So I wake up sometime between 6 and 8, either go for a run (earlier waking time) or grab my computer (later waking time) and start knocking out emails. My company is in another state but I office with my local clients, so I make my way to their office sometime around 10 or 11 or never, if they’re still working on the 3-week painting project. I flit from internet thing to work project and back to internet thing. I really need to get into a more productive routine.
Most mornings I’m up by 5a to shower, browse the net, and if I’m feeling adventurous head out for a run. Around 6a I hop in the shower, followed by a quick commute to work either by foot or by train for 7:30a. My first hour there is mainly opening tasks for the office coupled with any last minute catering or emails that need to be addressed immediately. Then the rest of my day is blogs, various websites, and other fun ephemera.
And obviously, there is coffee every step of the way. :)
i get to the office anywhere between 8:00 and 9:00, turn on my computer, grab a cup of coffee and fill my water bottle downstairs (sometimes a yogurt cup, but i’ve been eating breakfast at home a lot lately). then i come back upstairs, open outlook, spotify, gmail, facebook, twitter, billfold, hairpin, check my bank balance, pay any bills i’ve forgotten about, do some extensive facebook/twitter creeping, then start on responding to the mass of e-mails i’ve gotten in the meantime. it’s usually 10:00/10:30 by the time i get to the e-mails and start doing real work.
if there’s a particularly rousing article on the billfold though, i end up re-evaluating my own budget/life and burrowing myself in spreadsheets until about noon. it’s very productive.
today is the first day of freshman orientation though, so this summer routine will quickly go back to normal, where i have to be functioning before 10am and actually read my email right when i turn on my computer. i’ve already gotten 3 phone calls in my first hour in the office. college unions are a busy place.
I get to the office at 9:30, roundabouts, turn on my computer, put my lunch in the fridge and make some coffee while it thinks about maybe warming up. Check work e mail first thing and finish projects and catch up on correspondence in my inbox, then…because it’s August and nothing is happening…it’s all about FB, Gmail, and blogs (aka Billfold!)
Normal work days: Wake up, coffee, work email, personal email, check social media (work and personal), work out.
Hectic work days: Wake up, pull laptop into bed with me, work solidly until I think I can risk being away from my computer long enough to shower.
just curious, mike, what do you follow and what tags do you check on tumblr to get your reading?
@cliuless Honestly, I’m usually reading from the Longreads Tumblr, which follows more than 1,000 people. Basically, I just start scrolling through the glut of information until something interesting pops up.
I work in retail, with two different shift options, opening and close.
If I have an opening shift: I wake at 7:23am (ha, for real), shower/drink a coffee/pack my lunch, and then make a mad dash out the door to catch an early enough train to roll into work around 9am. I spend the train ride actually waking up, usually with a podcast. Once there, I grab restock from our storage, do a quick sweep/mop of the store itself, load all the register programs, check/answer urgent emails, make any necessary phone calls, and count the drawer. Then I sit down and plan my day with a check-box list. By 10am, I have a plan for the day and the doors wide open, ready for people to start getting their buy on.
If I close, I don’t have to be in to work until noon, so I take my time in the morning to do chores, like dishes or laundry, and spend my commute planning my day and checking my work email. By the time I get in, I know what I have to do and can get straight to it (unless it’s busy, then I deal with the customers first, obviously).
I’m a teacher on call (aka substitute) so some days I don’t get the call to work until that morning (thankfully it’s usually the night before if not earlier). If it is a dreaded 5:30 am call then I google map my bus route to the school and figure out just how much longer I can sleep and still get there for 8:20ish (a half hour before school starts).
I get up between 7 and 7:30, get my lunch sorted, have tea and breakfast and do a quick facebook/blog check. Bus or walk (if it’s close enough) to the school, check in and spend half an hour looking over the plan that has hopefully been left for me and getting stuff ready. After my dorky introduction, the morning usually goes by easily, at least until recess when I have a whopping 15 minutes to pee, eat something and talk to some grownups – unless I’ve got a whack of stuff to photocopy.
I also dream of being as together as all of you who are up between 5 and 6am and go running and all that. Though I guess my commute does require a nearly-2-mile walk (roughly a mile to the train, get on the train to the city, walk a mile from the train to work). But my body doesn’t care! It’s all, “Yeah, so what if we walk nearly 4 miles a day, every day? When are we going to start exercising?”
I get up around 7:45, make a bowl of cereal, read the Internet until 8:20, get in the shower, get dressed, generally clean up after roommates (dishes, usually), straighten and tidy, make a sandwich for lunch, and get out the door by 9:10 to get to work by 10am.
I manage a big website with an international membership. I absolutely refuse to work from bed. I might check the news or google reader from my phone, but that’s it. 5:30, I’m up and making coffee. I read the paper and catch up on FB until 6, and then I do email and whatever other admin tasks need to be done for 30-60 minutes. Then I go to the gym and have breakfast. That 6am round of email is really important though, because it’s the best time to catch the EU folks if we need to have a conversation. (I’m in CA.)
I work from home when I’m not on the road (somehow I get to be home for all of August Woooo!) and am basically available from 6am to 6pm, although I take a looong gym/hike/breakfast break in the am and a looooong lunch that usually involves a nap in the afternoon.
I usually only achieve that schedule about 60% of the time though. I travel a lot, and do the massive time zone flip (India, 12.5 hours; Russia, 11 hours, EU, 8ish hours; etc) which screws me up for a week or two when I get home.
If I’m on the road it’s shower then email and breakfast from bed before I head out to whatever show I’m working, and a metric fuckton of coffee.
i’m a full-time dogwalker, so i don’t start work until about 10:30 or so. the first hour of work is usually spent walking a puggle puppy, a wheaten terrier, a siberian husky, a golden retriever, and an australian chocolate labradoodle. but i’m a morning person, so i get up with my boyfriend’s 7:00 alarm and eat breakfast/internet/catch up on DVRed shows/read a book/run errands.
(i love my job)
@highwaysofgold At the same time? Do they all get along? I also foster dogs/helped establish an animal shelter last year and really the most I can manage is about three well-mannered pooches at once. Fewer if they’re extra strong/rambunctious/don’t play well with others.
@selenana some of them get walked together depending on the schedule for the day and how long each dog needs to be walked for. typically i’ll walk up to five medium/large breeds at a time. most of them are used to walking in a pack and all of them are good with other dogs, though occasionally one or two will get rowdy and try to play. i’m also studying to be a trainer, so i’m pretty good at keeping everyone under control when they get too crazy.
@highwaysofgold
I’m impressed with your dog-wrangling skills! I love dogs, but dog walking as a career… You must be pretty amazing to manage that (large breeds freak me out and they totally smell your fear [OK, my fear!]!)
I work the night shift at a library, which means a) I come in after most of my coworkers and b) there are usually a couple of things that fall into my domain that happen in the morning, so I need to tend to them as soon as I come in, then a long stretch where I don’t have much to do, then my shift at the circ desk at night.
So when I come in, I check my email immediately, then do anything time-sensitive, then sit at my desk doing personal stuff or just taking a break so that I can parcel my non-time-sensitive work out over the rest of the day.
I tend to do a lot of organization type stuff in that personal time window, like making shopping lists and updating my planner, because being at my desk at work puts me in a nice productive “let’s do things!” frame of mind.
I’m a college student who works just 10 hours a week in the costume shop, so the first hour of my work day is often the only hour of my workday. But generally I leave my dorm at 3:50, walk over to the arts building and arrive in the basement costume shop at 4:00 or so. I say hi to everyone, then either ask the shop supervisor if s/he has a job for me or continue on the job I’ve been working on. Let’s say I’ve been given a pattern and fabric and asked to build a costume piece. During my first hour, I’ll spread out butcher paper on the table, lay the pattern tissue on top of it, and use a tracing wheel (like a pizza wheel with spokes) to trace the pattern without cutting it out, to allow for using the pattern for multiple sizes. I’ll label and cut out these pieces, lay them on muslin, trace them with a chalk pencil, then cut them out. That takes about an hour.
I get into the office at 8:30. First thing I do is get the room ready – lights on, windows open in the summer or a/c on, heat adjusted in the winter, computer on. I get a cup of coffee and head upstairs to our other floor for half and half. 2-3 days a week I use 15-20 minutes to catch up with people upstairs in person on the various projects we’re working on together. And also just to say hi. Then I head back down, check work email for anything pressing, scan the to do list I left myself the night before, get the papers out that I need for my morning work, and get down to business.
Email! Deal to any urgent ones, ignore the rest. Write and edit content for the website I run, tweet some stories, send out the daily e-newsletter. That usually takes me up till lunch, after which I tackle the other less urgent tasks that require attention.