A Day in the Life of a Project Manager: Morning Routine Edition
Little known fact: I began my career in project management as a freelance PM, which gave me a wonderful training ground to explore all sorts of different industries. (This is also how I came to zero in on digital marketing as my “sweet spot” — this isn’t something I would have ever imagined for myself while I was still working in higher education, but project management let me see it up close!)
During that time, I worked for about five different clients on a week-to-week basis. If you’re thinking “that sounds like a lot!”… it was. And, again, I learned so much during that time — including what a morning routine looks like when I get to own it start to finish.
I firmly believe that the only "rule" about routines is that they should set you up for success, and save you time and stress. This is what mine looked like - it might not be yours! I've shared my rationale around how I came to build it along each step.
Mornings should set you up for success
I try very hard to allot a planning period into every single day. For example, I typically don’t start wading into any execution work until 9am, but I’m usually in front of my computer by at least 8:30 (sometimes 8) to plan my day.
For project managers, this planning period is critical: it's so easy to get lost in the weeds of any given project throughout the day that you need a road map. There are 3 main themes I'm mapping out during those times:
First, 1) What work do I need to monitor today? What are ALL the projects I have in flight right now? What's the status - is anyone waiting on me for communication? If not, who's got the ball… and am I certain they know what to do with it?
I use a combination of tools here. First, I use a piece of flip-chart paper and sticky notes to give me a 10,000 yard view of everything in-flight. Here's a mock-up of what that looks like with 6 hypothetical projects (A-F) across 6 hypothetical clients:
viewable from my desk 24/7
Every single one of these sticky notes ultimately makes it into Asana, my task management system of choice. Sticky notes become Asana projects, which then makes it possible to collaborate, edit, check off... all that good stuff. BUT I have found, now that I've switched to full-time PM work, that I really need to be able to see EVERYTHING, all the time, no matter what I'm doing, at a glance.
KEY LEARNING: You might (as I do) need multiple ways of “seeing”. I use this flip-chart paper to align my big-picture vision of my day & week, and I use project management software like Asana (or, increasingly, Notion) to plan projects and manage tasks. I’ve definitely worked with PMs who would never dream of including that flip-chart paper — in which case, don’t bother! What helps me might not help you. Part of finding your rhythm as a PM is experimenting with what works.
Next, 2) What work do I personally need to accomplish today? Do I need to write any reports? Build any slide decks? If so, do I have what I need, or do I need to check in with anyone before I get started? (If the latter, that's my first task for the day - but more on that for another post.) The core question here: who's waiting on me today, and for what?
KEY LEARNING: Part of project management work is proactive - you are usually the ONLY ONE on the team who's responsible for seeing the big picture of how each person's work affects the success of the team - and part of it is usually execution-based (unless you work for a really large team - but usually even those PMs are doing SOME execution work along the way). A potential PM will shine in interviews by talking about this proactive work rather than just executing!
And finally, 3) What does my schedule look like? Is it meeting-heavy? If so, what do I need to prep for these meetings? These become the second tasks for the day.
I do always schedule the follow-up tasks from Part 2 and Part 3 first up. That's because my own executions and any prep for any meetings are non-negotiable - they're already scheduled, people are waiting on them, and so they very rarely make sense as the ball to drop. (As a PM things come up at 10am ALL THE TIME that will turn around and take 3 unexpected hours out of your day, so part of the job is definitely making strategic decisions about how to shift the plan!)
I hope this was helpful! In my next post, I pull back the curtain even further and talk about what happens in a day once the routine is over - that's where the magic happens, but only if you're on a solid foundation!