Hi.

Thanks for stopping by! Let's get sweaty and figure out this whole parenting thing together!

What does a productive day in PR look like?

PR is like having multiple personalities. Being able to flit easily from the mind-numbing task of building a media list, to securing a media interview, to answering a client e-mail and more is invaluable in this industry. Given the fast-paced nature of our profession, it is hard to imagine that ANYONE can get out of work before 6:00 p.m. EVER. A debate that recently occurred over e-mail between a few agency friends—if you get out in time for a 6:00 p.m. happy hour are you really working or just highly productive?

I am still trying to figure out how I can land in the highly productive column. Here are a few things I am doing to succeed.

  • I have never been a morning person. So learning this trait has been a hard one: Get. Into. The office. Early. Get through the emails that dropped in your inbox overnight and file them away. A clear inbox can lead to a clear head. I swear.
  • I don’t live by this at all, but apparently, if you set aside designated times to check your e-mail it will save you time.
  • Same goes for your news sources. I have Tweetdeck set up and mark Tweets that I want to come back to.
  • Meetings, meetings and more meetings. They eat up a lot of my time. They cut my day and limit the amount of cruising time I get to power through my work. If you are always on time others will eventually learn to be on time too, thus saving you time.
  • I learned this one from my immediate supervisor (that is appearance No. 3). Microsoft Outlook’s calendar can actually serve as reminders too. One major time-saver I’ve found through its use is to set sporadic reminders to myself for items that are dangling in “follow-up limbo.” For example: the interview you got six weeks ago has it posted yet? Save yourself the hassle of sifting through your vast email for the last correspondence and set a calendar invite to pop up in a few weeks with the details of where the task at hand stands.

I am by no means succeeding at all of these, but I am trying. It helps you not only become more productive, but also effective and you are more likely to make that happy hour. Triple whammy.

 

Stick to Your Diet Even with the Biggest Distractions

When Healthy Eating Becomes an Obsession