5.40 AM

After getting woken up by the alarm and hitting the snooze button once or twice, it’s time to get out of bed and get ready for the day ahead. Straight into the shower I go before I head into the kitchen and make myself breakfast, take my lunch that was prepared the night before, finish getting ready and I’m out the door within 30-40 minutes.

6.30 AM

On a good day, I usually leave home by 6.30am and commute to work by car, arriving at work at 7.00am. I make my way down to the office and make myself a much-needed coffee.

7.20 AM

After saying ‘Hello’ to everyone in the office, I’ll make my way to my desk and read through all my unread emails from the weekend or overnight and note any items that need to be actioned before looking at my calendar to see what meetings I had on for the day.

I am currently in my design module as part of the Graduate Program, which means I'm tasked with document control for the project. Many updated drawings from consultants and subcontractors would have been received via email while I’ve been away from my computer and it takes time issuing the drawings out, requesting a print request and printing them out for the project team to review them. Through the design module, I also have the responsibility of dealing with samples, sitting in on design meetings and taking meeting minutes for them to be issued out later that day.

8.40 AM

I’ll sit with my Design Manager and go through our outstanding items that need to be completed, which have been developed through our design meetings and consultant meetings. As I am looking after samples for the next stage of the project, some of these have not been approved by the client yet. Once we’ve had our discussion I’ll then prepare all samples that will need to be signed off by the client later that day. 

9.30 AM

I usually take 15-20 minutes of the morning to have a little something to eat which will hopefully fill me up until lunch. Then I have 10 minutes to prepare myself for the design meeting with the client held at 10am.

10.00 AM

With our next handover being in the middle of the year, there is a number of design items that we need to discuss and get approval from the client for, to ensure that we satisfy their design needs prior to us constructing the works. Meetings that go for 2 hours isn’t a common thing, although since we are hoping to finalise the design soon we are covering a lot of topics.  With a number of important items being discussed, it is my role to take minutes from the meeting and distribute them to all relevant parties later on that day. 

12.30 PM

Lunch time finally arrives and I make my way into the kitchen where I prepare my meal and sit down with everyone for the next 30 minutes, zoning out of work mode!

1.00 PM

Into the second half of the day I’m back at my computer and scanning through my emails to see if any more have come through since the morning. I’ll then put my headphones on and type up my meeting minutes from earlier on in the day and issue them out to everyone.

2.45 PM

Once I’ve finalised the meeting minutes, time to have a snack at my desk before getting out of the office and heading onto site. Being in design it is important to inspect areas you are looking after on site. I tend to go out with a Project Coordinator or Supervisor to discuss the status of the job and ask them any site base questions for a better understanding of the project and for my development. Being on site for a bit is always good, as it is a change of environment, you see how the job has progressed and an opportunity to have a general chat with the subbies.

3.30 PM

Back in the office, it’s time to sit down with the client and go through the current samples we have for the project. We head over to the table where all the samples are kept for the next stage as we require his approval and signature. Once approved that particular item is locked in and we can then update our samples register to suit.

4.00 PM

Looking after document control for the project, it is my responsibility to ensure the drawings are being updated regularly. The print requests that were submitted from earlier on in the day and over the past day or two have been delivered, it’s time to replace them with the previous revision. The headphones are put back in and the task takes me towards the end of the day.

5.15 PM

With Updating the drawings done for now, I go back to my computer and look through my emails one last time. It’s time to read through my diary and cross out all the tasks I have finished that day. So that I am prepared for tomorrow, I’ll write down everything that needs to be completed the night before.

5.45 PM

It’s time to call it a day, I’ll either go to the gym or footy training where I can take my mind off work. Once that’s done time to head home, unwind and prepare myself for another day at work tomorrow!