This is a day in the life of me working from home. I work from home three to four days out of five a week. This day is vastly different to the day I have when I am in the office. When I am in the office, I am lucky enough to have my mum who completes school drop off, pick up and afterschool activities. Usually, I am in the office around 7:00AM and leave by 4:00 PM. I then pick up the activities as listed below from 5:30 PM homework time. I also work on site at least four days a month and sometimes more. Again, my day on site is so different to that listed below, and again my husband and mum make the cogs turn when I am away. I do iron and lay out the kids uniforms and extracurricular activities on clothes rack ready for the days I’m away to make it easier and more organized for my husband. I’ll also do a big shop and prepare meals to make it easier for the family to get everything done when I am away on site. Sometimes, depending on my shift length, I will do a grocery shop online and have it delivered to the house to ease the burden from mum and my husband.
About my job:
I work as an occupational hygienist. Whilst some think that occupational hygienists work in bathrooms or ensure people wash their hands and use deodorant, my job is quite a bit different to that. At Chevron, being an occupational hygienist means that I am responsible for anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of workplace hazards that are nearly always invisible and odourless. My work involves me visiting site to educate and empower the workforce and management of occupational health hazards to prevent exposure and mitigate risk. My favourite part of my work is coaching and empowerment but also problem solving. There is nothing more satisfying than finding and solving issues that many knew didn’t exist. Working in the health and medical team now has enabled me to learn more of the health surveillance component to my position as well as global health and injury management.
5.30 AM
My alarm sounds and I quickly rise out of bed to try and get in a cup of tea that I can drink in peace and quiet before one or all my four kids wakes up. I call this a ‘hassle-free cup of tea’. I often use this time to scroll through work emails sent overnight or early morning to see if there is anything, I need to immediately action.
6.00 AM
I begin packing the children their lunches and drink bottles, pack their bags and make sure their homework is done and in their bag. I then start to get their morning drinks and breakfast ready. By this stage all the morning children are awake, and the craziness of the day has begun. I resolve 44 disagreements ranging from tv show of choice, who gets which cup and who gets their breakfast first. Once breakfast is started, I get the kids showered and dressed and sit them in front of the television which usually sees them keep calm for the rest of the morning.
7.00 AM
I turn on the computer and begin working. Usually, I can respond to immediate response emails and read through corporate communications. I use this time to plan my day and work out what I intend to work on and who I need to involve. I also look through any meetings and read through pre-reads and notes to prepare myself for any discussions requiring my input. By this stage, I have diffused any dramas over tv channels and entertainment choices with the children and am on my third cup of tea.
8.00 AM
I get the children to brush their teeth, shoes on and shut down the computer. I get everyone into the car for 8:15 AM and start the drive to school. I make sure my work phone is in my bag ready for a phone meeting scheduled for 9:30 in case there are any delays after school drop off preventing me from being at home and in front of my computer for our morning meeting.
9.30 AM
My first meeting of the day is a debrief with the team I work in discussing any events that have occurred in the organisation, sites or the community which may have an impact on the business or our team. We discuss what we are working on briefly and ask for help if needed from the team. This is a useful and effective meeting as it enables roadblocks to be resolved and assistance requested quickly. After this meeting, I make myself a drink and bring a bottle of water to my desk.
10.00 AM
I check my emails, Team’s chat and respond to any that need immediate action. I also check my team’s email address and respond to anything requiring attention. COVID-19 has required me to be more active and responsive to emails in a timely fashion and so this takes a bit of time each day. I spend the rest of my day working on project work as I have some rather large projects that are in the developmental and rollout stages. While trying to concentrate, I shut down my email and Teams for up to two hours at a time to allow me to fully concentrate on the work I am doing without being distracted by the constant flurry of emails. This was a suggestion of my previous mentor, who was exceptionally good at time management.
1.00 PM
Time for lunch! I make myself something quickly and make myself another drink and refill my water bottle. I spend this time turning my email back on and opening Teams. I respond to any emails or chats requiring attention. I am now working in the Wheatstone TAR team as the health and medical conduit as well as occupational hygiene lead. This is a demanding role which sees me developing training packages, information packs, involvement in risk assessments and ensuring readiness for the execution of events.
2.40 PM
It’s time to pick up the children from school. I shut down the computer and get in the car connecting my phone to the car to enable verbal meetings to take place at this time. I find this a really useful way of having lengthy conversations about work that do not require me to be in front of my computer. I always bring my laptop as I know I will have up to two hours of downtime while the children complete their after school sports.
3.10 PM
I pick up the kids from school and take them to their after school activities. COVID-19 has meant I often cannot enter the premises to watch the children which is great for me as I can spend this time on the laptop doing project work. If I need internet to attend meetings or make calls, I will connect my laptop to my hotspot to enable connectivity wherever I am. After school activities for the kids range from soccer, football, Tae Kwon Do, gymnastics, parkour, and dancing. In summer the kids trade soccer and football for Little Athletics. Every night, there is an activity and so it is important to be dynamic with connectivity to enable me to do two things at once: be a taxi service and work.
5.30 PM
Homework time for the kids. The three oldest boys, in years 4, 3 and 1, all get a minimum of 30 minutes of homework each. They all need my assistance with various components and so I Google what I cannot remember from school (things have changed a lot since I was at school – the excuse I tell myself when I cannot remember what a pronoun or an adjective is).
6.00 PM
If my husband is home from work, he will start cooking dinner, if not I begin cooking. Serve the meal and try to convince the children that vegetables are good for them and not the product of all things evil. After dinner I let the children watch tv or play a computer game to wind down before bed.
7.30 PM
It's bedtime for the children now. I spend 10 minutes with each child in their bed reading them a story or talking to them about their day. I get mountains of cuddles and sweet messages whispered into my ear during this time. It’s a really lovely way to end the night with the kids.
8.30 PM
After the kids have risen from bed for the 15th time to go to the bathroom, get a drink of water or tell me that one last thing they didn’t tell me for the many hours we spent together during the day I am able to relax with a hot Milo and open my laptop. I spend two hours on the computer following up on work and activities that have come out of the day.
10.30 PM
Bedtime for me now. I lay in bed and count sheep for seconds before my eyes close for the night ready to start it all again the next day.