Caroline Guy
Welcome to the latest installment in our series on the “Day in the Life” of nonprofit communicators! This series lets you describe your workday in your own words.
We’d love to feature YOU in this series! Don’t be shy – tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
Caroline Guy is the Coordinator of Communications and Technology with the Northwestern Ohio Synod, ELCA. She is a recent graduate of Baldwin Wallace University where she received a BA in Communication Studies and studied Public Relations and Spanish. She works with her staff to support the ministry of the 161 ELCA congregations in the synod. Although she is fairly new to the nonprofit communications field, Caroline has become passionate about serving the people of Northwest Ohio and is grateful that her job allows her to do so.
And this is her typical day:
Before 8:00 a.m. – Mornings and I do not get along, so I set my alarm earlier than necessary to allow time to hit the snooze button or just slowly wake up.
The very first thing I do is make coffee, but I take it with me to work. Instead of coffee, I try to drink a full water bottle while I get ready.
Music can get me going on even the slowest of mornings, so I have a carefully curated Spotify playlist that I listen to every morning.
8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m – From 8:00am – 9:00am I sit at my desk and get ready for the day.
While I drink my coffee I check my email, check our social media accounts, read my daily email from theSkimm, review content calendars, do a check-in on my monthly goals, and make my to-do list for the day.
I try to take a full hour to center myself and be calm, but some days it’s easier than others.
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – I schedule most of my meetings with co-workers for 10am if possible, but when I’m not in meetings I spend this time tackling my to-do list.
Working with pastors, I’ve found that this is the best time to make any phone calls and send any emails, because they are usually out of the office in the afternoons.
This week one of my main priorities for the morning is planning the redesign of our website. Now that I’ve been in my position for almost a year, I am working with our web developer to revamp and reorganize our website. Prioritizing this for the morning helps make sure I work on it a little bit every day.
12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. – I try to take my lunch break from 12pm – 1pm with others on staff, but there’s always something to finish up. I like to read while I eat lunch and this week’s book is “Make ‘Em Laugh” by Debbie Reynolds.
This is another time that I try to take the full hour to give my mind and eyes a break from the computer, but that’s pretty rare for lunch.
After lunch I re-evaluate my to-do list and adjust accordingly. We had a retirement luncheon last week for our retired pastors, so this week will be balancing between catching up on things that were bumped during preparations and following up after the event.
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Since we are finishing up several small events and getting ready for our large conference, my to-do list has tripled in size. So I spend this time working on anything that has to get done before I leave.
After 4:00 p.m. – Our work day ends at 4pm but I usually leave at 4:30/4:45.
On the way home I listen to a podcast, usually about history or health and wellness. At the recommendation of my boss, I don’t check my email once I leave the office, but I do keep an eye on our social media accounts.
I try to do some type of physical activity after work because I am almost always sitting in front of my computer for the entire work day.
Then I clean out and pack my computer bag/briefcase and I’m ready for tomorrow!
Thanks for sharing your day, Caroline!
Want to be featured in this series? Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
