👩🏼‍💻Behind the Desk: A Day in My Work Life👩🏼‍💻

Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog!

I’ve had a few questions about my job lately so I thought it's about time I did a day in the life!

Usually, when I say what I do, I use the term “shifting papers” haha! In some ways, it is true!

I thought a “day in the life” blog might help you understand a bit better because everyday is different!

I typically prep my meals in advance for work, I plan to do a separate blog post about that soon.

My day usually starts around 5:45 am. I wake up, jump in the shower, do my skincare routine and brush my teeth. I don’t wear makeup to work, mainly because I like my skin to breathe and I tend to break out really badly from wearing make up all the time.

Around 7:20am I head to work, it takes me about 30 minutes.

I have my breakfast at work. Yes I am one of them aha! It's usually four scrambled eggs or a bowl of porridge with dark chocolate. I also love a latte, one of the Nescafé sachets. I know the Latte sachets aren't great for you but they help me with a little sugar boost in the morning. I usually eat while I go through my emails and plan my to do list for the day.

I work for a coach company, organising and booking day excursions as well as putting together school tours.

My morning starts with going through emails, noting down any voicemails that came in overnight and authorising the online bookings. I have to make sure the details are correct and payments have gone through so I always do this first in case I need to contact customers with any issues.

At around 9 am, I start calling back those who left messages and helping them with bookings or answering any questions. The phone line is open 9am - 3:30pm so I am the main person to answer the phone during the day, my colleagues will help if it is extra busy.

Mornings are always the busiest, so in between phone calls, I will do other tasks, including:

• Invoices: I review the costs of school visits and authorise payments.

• Facebook: I manage messages, comments, and schedule posts for the upcoming week.

• Research: I look into potential trips we could offer and send the ideas to my manager.

• Booking Visits/Organising Itineraries: While my main role focuses on day trips, I help organise school visits and create itineraries.

• Flight Tickets: For schools that travel by air, I assist with booking flights—sometimes entering passport details for over 49 people into Ryanair or EasyJet, which isn’t the most fun task!

• Vouchers: I handle vouchers for any visits our schools book, making sure all the details are correct for both UK and international trips. I will also put together folders for the driver including maps and information about the destination they're going to.

As you can see, I do a variety of tasks that change depending on the day’s needs. Generally, my mornings are dedicated to schools, callbacks, and emails.

The afternoons are focused on day trips and social media planning. I usually finish at 4 pm, though the schedule can change depending on what’s going on.

January and February tend to be quieter, so my hours stay pretty consistent, but during the busy summer months (July, August, and September), we often stay later to keep up with the workload.

I’m really lucky in my job; I love it, I work with a great team. We all have a lot of fun and the time just flies by!

After work, I walk Marley and get ready for kickboxing. I leave at around 6 pm and usually get back home around 9 pm. Once I’m home, I grab dinner, take a shower and get to bed to do it all again the next day!

I have started to build a routine and forced myself to stick to it. When I train, I want to train every single day and I am finding this isn't good for my body.

With PCOS my symptoms worsen when my body is under stress so I have found training every other day is really good and it works. Having the rest day helps my body and muscles repair, stopping me burning out!

Sometimes, I get the chance to go on different trips through my job. I’ve been to the West End shows in London and Birmingham. I’ve also visited Bruges and Ypres in Belgium. I’ve been in my current job for a year now. Before this, I did care work and worked at a supermarket.

In total, I’ve spent 4 years in the travel industry, having worked for a travel agent back in 2019 too. Travel wasn’t originally the plan, I actually wanted to be a social worker, working with children!

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite make the grade for university and although I considered doing an access course, as soon as I got into the travel industry, it just felt like the right fit. I absolutely love what I do and the hours suit me perfectly!

If you have read a few of my other blogs you will see some of the trips I have been on and I plan on writing about lots more!

Thanks for reading, I can’t wait to share my next blog with you soon!

Chloe x