Before we start with A Day In The Life of me, I have something to tell you.

I have a secret…

I’ve never coped with change very well!

Every birthday meal used to be at TGIFs. Every holiday had to be at Devon. Every book I read was one I had already read before. I used to think these were cute traditions, but I didn’t think too much of them.

It wasn’t until my friend was moving house, that I noticed my uneasiness to change. They were moving somewhere that meant I would see them more yet somehow I felt like my whole life was erupting. I had only been to their house a couple of times, so I wasn’t sentimental, I didn’t like the change.

“Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.” -Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The word change has always felt a bit taboo to me. I had the misconception that it was a bad thing. But, after reading my favourite book, this quote resonated with me. If I don’t use the word change and instead use ‘adapt’ or ‘moderate’, does it scare me as much? The answer was no.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve embraced the fact that change is a part of life and more often than not, it’s a good thing! (In the end, I realised that I got to see my friend way more after they moved!)

Being a digital marketing apprentice

You may be thinking why I’m talking about change. Well, working at Optimo has been a big change in itself. Before here I was at school, then sixth form, then university. This meant that leaving the world of education and entering the world of work was a bit of an adjustment.

To be completely honest, I don’t think school sets you up perfectly for real life. One of the main things I noticed was the lack of diversity in potential job roles I was told I could pursue. If I was taking English or Maths, then it’s a job as a teacher for me. If I was taking Science, then surely I would be a doctor. This is not entirely the fault of the school, there are so many jobs out there that I’m still learning about.

It wasn’t until I was at university, that I realised marketing was an actual viable job I could pursue. But it’s safe to say that I love every minute!

A Day In the Life of a Digital Marketer:

8:00- 9:00:

I wake up and get ready. I’m not an early riser no matter how hard I try. I applaud those who can wake up at 6 am and still act human by tea time!

This is also the time for my morning dog cuddles!

9:00-9:30:

I have a cup of coffee, and log into LinkedIn. I spend my first 15 minutes engaging with other people’s posts and learning what’s going on in the world. I log into Asana which is a work management tool we use to keep track of our tasks. I make myself a to-do list of what I will be doing that day, making sure to prioritise the important tasks.

10:00-12:00:

I start to chip away at my tasks. This often includes looking at the analytics of our website and social media. What’s performing well and what needs improvement? The data I collect is then put into our dashboard which allows us to keep track of our performance. I check my emails now as more often than not, there are important tasks to do in there.

12:00-13:00:

Lunch! I make myself lunch which is usually a chicken salad wrap and read a bit of my book. A lot of my day is quite screen-dependent, so when I can I like to take a break from my screens.

13:00-14:00:

We have a team catch-up! When working remotely, we can forget that we have people to talk to (other than our dogs and cats). So we find it important to have a Teams call to catch up on everything. Here we talk about our priorities for the week and share any important work updates. We also like to include a little ‘how are we feeling today’ which is always great fun. We do this by describing the weather or choosing a picture that depicts how we feel the best.

14:00-16:30:

I like to give myself the afternoons for content creation! I plan out our content for the month at the beginning of each month, so I already know what needs to be written. I go to the Asana card for the post I want to write and start jotting down ideas of things I want to mention in the post.

Then I start writing the actual post and figure out what image I think will suit it best (I’m susceptible to a funny one!) After I’ve written the posts for the day, I send them off to be peer-reviewed (too many eyes is never a bad thing). I then start creating a marketing plan for any upcoming blogs, case studies and newsletters so I can be prepared.

16:30-17:00:

I organise our Asana dashboard. At this time, I go through all the cards to ensure everything is on track and chase people up on their progress on certain tasks. It can be overwhelming to look at the dashboard and see chaos and no organisation. It’s a nice end-of-day task to do so that I can start the next day fresh.

Alongside my daily job roles, I am also doing my apprenticeship for my Level 3 Digital Marketing course. So four days a week I work as normal for Optimo. Then one day I dedicate as my apprenticeship day. I complete my work for them, including taking exams and doing project work.

This means my days differ depending on what day it is! But the above is a pretty accurate summary of a normal workday for me.

How am I finding it all?

One word: Exciting!

I never thought I would ever associate change with excitement. Each day I am learning something new whilst getting comfortable in my routine. It is such a rewarding feeling.

It’s been over six months since I became a full-time member of Optimo and left the cocoon of education. It’s been a whirlwind of change and opportunity.

I had been working at Optimo for over a year before I left university. Luckily I was already close with the amazing team, but they truly have been the pillars on which I lean when I have struggled with adapting to the new work-life routine.

The concept of change is still daunting to me sometimes but when surrounded by the right people and going into it with the right mindset, it can be great!

If you’ve enjoyed my little ramble and would like to hear more at some point, check out my LinkedIn!

Alternatively, if you think you’re like me and change can sometimes be a bit overwhelming but you think you need change in your business, check out our Change Readiness Assessment to see if you’re ready for the next step!