6.15 AM
The first of many alarms went off.
6.25 AM
The second alarm went off which I intentionally set to play on full volume on my desk so I have to rush to turn it off. Especially when a good night’s sleep doesn’t happen, it’s the only thing that does the trick.
6.45 AM
Got ready for work, my clothes ready from the night before. I had a quick cereal before leaving the house at 7.00 am.
7.00 AM
Since I live quite a distance away from work, I travel for an hour to get there. On the way, I play some of my favourite music on Spotify or listen to some YouTube podcasts to keep entertained. Today I listened to some videos about servers and their use, which I’m trying to better understand for work and personal reasons.
8.10 AM
When I reach my work area in the building, I first say hi to my colleagues and sit at my desk with my dedicated workstation. My team leader is here today so I greet him as well. Tuesday is the day we usually get together and discuss progress, catch up and sometimes even hold a meeting.
8.15 AM
First off, I make sure skype for business and outlook are open on my laptop so I can be contacted by colleagues from other locations if need be. Then, I log in to my workstation desktop where most of the work is done. Again, I will open outlook and skype for business which is key for client and colleague communication.
8.20 AM
I hear from my immediate colleagues that there is an issue with an important server and they are working hard to resolve it. This type of issue is rare and I have little expertise with it, but I sit and observe how the task is handled. After troubleshooting and looking for every possible solution on our own, and determining how widespread the issue is, we reassign this ticket with the server team which typically handles these issues if we cannot immediately solve them.
8.30 AM
I use the time in which I can’t access Teamcenter, the software I help support for our clients, to email two clients about tasks that have been completed for them. They reply promptly with their thanks, which is always a nice gesture and tells us we are doing our job right.
8.45 AM
I go over some technical knowledge, notably the difference between claiming, assigning and checking out a given task or document, which are all functions in Teamcenter. If I have questions I usually ask Kumar, who is my closest colleague. In a spare moment, we talk about exercising and gym, how much we ran and our progress.
8.55 AM
I take a small break with three others to walk down the corridor and pour a cup of water, tea or coffee. During this time we usually talk about anything but work, and often it is perfect for regaining focus before getting back into the tickets. This time we talked about Apex Legends, a new game we enjoy playing together after work every now and then.
9.10 AM
A user modification ticket needs clarification, so I email the client who raised it. Patience is key because I want to complete the ticket only when all the info is available. In the meantime, I study other tickets in my queue, trying to prioritise and progress them the best way possible.
9.51 AM
Another ticket comes in. We ask the senior app support staff for help which he quickly clarifies for us. It is the wording of the ticket which is new to me. Clients can word the same request in many different ways, and although the ticketing system we use is fairly formulaic and rigid, interpretation of information is still a useful skill.
11.33 AM
On my laptop, I log in to the staff site and apply for some phone expense claims. This is done once a month and takes about 5-10 minutes. I also double-check my emails while I’m there. Afterwards, we start planning where to eat, because the whole team is here and we usually go out together for lunch.
12.00 PM
I drive my colleagues to a nearby town, where someone suggested a Mexican restaurant for lunch. Most of them are huge techies, so the newest phones, laptops and hardware are a big topic. I’ve learned a lot about it as I’ve started working for ATOS, it’s just part of the culture.
2.23 PM
I receive a ticket requiring urgent attention from a customer. There is a training session for the software taking place soon and they require multiple user accounts to be created for those undertaking the training. This is a routine ticket but very important and requires a lot of focus to get all the details correct. I spend over an hour on this ticket.
3.25 PM
We take another water break after a very busy period. Afterwards, my colleagues are continuing to work on small server issues and communicating with the server group as well as clients. Any high priority tickets that affect a multitude of users such as this one gets the most attention, and at this point, all I can do is watch and learn.
4.25 PM
I leave work at the same time as my close colleague Kumar and we walk to our cars together. The drive home through the city feels much busier today than usual and I end up spending a long time in the car. I arrive home at around 6:20.
7.30 PM
After briefly resting from work and the drive, I relax to some music playlists. I don’t think much about work, except preparing a few objectives for my performance setting appointment tomorrow.
8.00 PM
I go for a walk with my brother to the local park and talk about a lot of things, from sport to what we will do on the weekend. Every day I still find the time to either walk, catch up with someone or go to the gym.
9.10 PM
I listen to some YouTube to wind down. I check my Facebook account and message a few people, consider playing some PC games but it’s been a long day and I just want to sleep. I make sure to put my phones, laptops and any other electronics away before bed, as I try to get enough rest to tackle another unpredictable day at work.