Here is the latest submission for our Day in the Life of a Nonprofit Communicator series. This series lets you describe your workday in your own words.
Rebecca Barrack works mostly at home with some time in the office. Let’s see how she does it.
Rebecca’s Bio:
Rebecca is a wife and working mama of two beautiful girls, living on the Space Coast of Florida. A two-time graduate of Florida State University, she is enjoying her second career and has been with Christian Care Ministry for 3 1/2 years. Christian Care Ministry is a 501(c)3 which administers the Medi-Share health care sharing program.
Before 8:00 a.m. Do you immediately grab your phone when you wake up? Are you taking the dog out? Breakfast with the family? Do you get dressed right away if you’re working from home?
Before 8am (alarm goes off at 5:30) I am like a madwoman getting ready for the day. I shower/make myself Zoom-worthy, make breakfast for kids, pack their lunches/snacks, then help them get ready. I take my daughter to school (or both on T/Th since little one is in preschool).
Then back home to log into work around 8:15. I meet my boss at the office once or twice a month for a good working session to knock common things off our lists.
8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. When do you normally start your workday? Are you on the computer now or getting the kids set up with their school work? Do you create a to-do list or just react to what comes your way?
Our team puts together weekly plans with all our known projects and any urgent tasks for the week every Monday. So barring any random things thrown our way, I’m generally slaying that to-do list in the mornings.
Granted, my youngest is home with me MWF, so I build in some breaks when I can to give her some attention. Sometimes we share a morning snack around 10am.
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. What systems are you using to stay organized? If working at home, is someone else in your house also working from home? How are you getting along? Do you eat at your desk for lunch?
Because our communications team serves in a support role to several other departments, we have a number of systems we are in for organization/project management, etc., including Microsoft Teams, KaiNexus, and others.
Thankfully, I’m the only one working from home in our house, though my husband does have Mondays off, so he helps a little more with house stuff or with our daughter while I’m working that day.
Tuesdays and Thursdays I sometimes eat at my desk while I work to make up for driving back and forth to the school three times those days.
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Are you still on schedule for the day? How are you communicating with your co-workers?
Between 1-3pm is when I typically get most of my heads-down work done or when I schedule meetings with team members since that’s the time my daughter is down for her nap. Score!
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Any later afternoon planning sessions? Power naps or coffee breaks? How do you wrap up your day?
I try to avoid late afternoon meetings, though sometimes they are planned for me. Ugh.
I usually leave the house by 4:45 to go pick up my other daughter from aftercare/school.
After 4:00 p.m. Did you finish everything you needed to do? When does your workday actually stop? How do you prepare for tomorrow?
My day usually ends around 4:45. There are times (some Mondays or Tuesdays) when I will jump back on the computer after 8pm when the girls are in bed if there are any last minute tasks that need to get done before the next day. Other than that, I do my best to separate work and home life, even though my computer is just steps away from my living room (right next to the dining room table!).
Thanks for sharing your day, Rebecca!
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