Justine Smith
Here’s the latest installment in our series on the “Day in the Life” of nonprofit communicators, where we ask you to describe your day in your own words.
Want to be featured in this series? Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
Here is her typical day:
Before 8:00 am: I wake up bright and early around 6 a.m., take a shower and mentally prepare for the day. As a rule, I generally don’t check my email until I arrive at work (around 7:45 a.m.).
After breakfast, I check my personal social media accounts. Instagram and Pinterest are my current favorites. Then, I grab my coffee (currently, pumpkin spice coffee) and lunch and head to work.
8:00 am – 10:00 am: Easing into the day is important to me, so I begin by sorting through my emails and reading blogs through Feedly while sipping my coffee. I tend to listen to the local country music station for the news (and the fantastic country tunes, of course).
Reviewing the previous night’s social media posts is always next on the agenda. Responding to comments, questions and feedback is one of my favorite parts of my job!
10:00 am – 12:00 pm: Today, I edited video for a solid two hours. Weaving together the stories of five residents is a challenge, but by noon, I’ve nearly completed the rough cut. Success!
Around 12:30, I typically head to eat lunch with my coworkers in our break room.
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Before I leave lunch, a second cup of coffee to power my through the afternoon is always necessary!
My supervisor and I hosted a webinar to unveil our brand new staff website (still in progress) to a group of employees. Though many questions arose during our conversation, we heard a lot of excellent feedback that will help us improve the site before it goes live.
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Around mid-afternoon, I usually stream music through Spotify (the genre depends on my mood/which project I’m currently working on). Today, I edited a PowerPoint presentation that will be used at a leadership conference this fall.
Then, I ensured that my social media posts were scheduled correctly for that night. I also browsed Twitter to check the latest trending hashtags (today it’s #AppleLive! So exciting).
After 4:00 pm: At 4:00, I stop what I’m working on and prepare for the next day. I sort through my emails again.
Today I printed out Kivi’s writing prompts–immensely helpful for planning next month’s posts!
I do monitor our social media posts at least once each night.
I’m so thrilled to genuinely love what I do every day!
Want to be featured in this series? Tell us what you do in a typical day as a nonprofit communications pro.
