It was a rainy winter morning. So rainy that made me feel glad I did not have to drive to work under this heavy rain, through the more-than-usual heavy traffic. A rain, even a light one, increases my commuting time by at least 20 mins.
Sitting at the cozy sofa of my home, I switched on my laptop, started my secure corporate VPN connection and opened Skype. Using Remote Desktop I could have access to all my files and apps stored at my office desktop PC and my softphone app made sure that all my incoming calls would be forwarded to my home laptop.
It was just like working from the office but saving a 50 min drive and sitting more comfortably on my sofa. I quickly caught up with all pending emails and had an early morning update chat through Skype with my colleagues - some of them at the office, some of the working from home.
It was so quiet that I quickly finished an urgent article for a Greek newspaper and had a short break looking for news to use in our corporate and project social media accounts. This was something I can do - and even better - while listening to my favorite moody tracks on Spotify or YouTube.
Back to some important tasks: A dissemination report of one of our projects, for the social media of which we (I) am responsible, needed some in depth analysis of usage and outreach. I go into the analytics of each social media platform, export the data in spreadsheets (where applicable) and start filtering, merging and making use of data. I am surprised to see how each platform changes the way it presents the analytics and trying to figure out ways to address some obvious barriers (e.g. Facebook not allowing to go past a quarter of the year).
After progressing with the report, I need to switch to something easier, to help me clear my mind; I start working on the clipping of news related to the company, our projects and products, filling in some basic information in an online spreadsheet.
Time for a lunch break, and some time off the screen, to prepare for the rest of my working day.
A Skype call with the team on the updates and any pending task or issue, and the occasional webinar of the day, on topics of general (or even specific) interest, to catch up with the work of collaborators.
Stretching my legs shortly before the webinar, grabbing a cup of hot coffee and off we go. In the meantime I check my emails, making sure that all urgent ones are highlighted and the informational ones are quickly sorted out.
Time's up: Another Skype call with the team, to recap the day and plan things for tomorrow. Everything's sorted out and we are ready for a brand new day.
