Recently, someone asked me what my typical work day is. The question came in the course of a casual conversation with a person I’d just met. She has a talent for photography, so when I told her I was a Producer for a local commercial photographer, she was interested in finding out more.
What IS my typical day at work? It’s a question that usually brings a laugh from me. Not an easy question to answer. I’ve tried answering it a few ways. ‘Well, each day is different.’ Or... ‘The great thing is that there really isn’t a typical day.’
But neither of those answers really answers the question properly. They usually suffice as answers in casual conversation, but like I said, this person wanted to know more. So during this recent conversation, I recounted what I had done that day for an upcoming out of town shoot. Researched photo assistants, stylists, and equipment rentals in Seattle for an upcoming shoot. Booked an assistant and a stylist for a shoot. Reserved hotel rooms in Seattle. Acquired a Certificate of Insurance for an equipment rental. Looked into taxi & public transportation vs a car rental in Seattle. Began a production book/job sheet for the shoot.
And then there were the couple of other projects I was just beginning to estimate and the one I was wrapping up and billing.
While the tasks I performed that day are tasks I do often, it’s stretching it to say that it was a typical day. The most typical thing about it was that I was juggling a few projects. Spending part of my day on one shoot, switching gears to another, and then back to the first. Some
people go to work and have a very typical day in every sense of the word. They repeat tasks over and over. Or they deal with clients or customers in the same manner day in and day out. While there are tasks that I repeat daily or weekly, there are so many more tasks, conversations, places, and people that are different every day or every week in my work. It’s a refreshing challenge.
What IS my typical day at work? It’s a question that usually brings a laugh from me. Not an easy question to answer. I’ve tried answering it a few ways. ‘Well, each day is different.’ Or... ‘The great thing is that there really isn’t a typical day.’
But neither of those answers really answers the question properly. They usually suffice as answers in casual conversation, but like I said, this person wanted to know more. So during this recent conversation, I recounted what I had done that day for an upcoming out of town shoot. Researched photo assistants, stylists, and equipment rentals in Seattle for an upcoming shoot. Booked an assistant and a stylist for a shoot. Reserved hotel rooms in Seattle. Acquired a Certificate of Insurance for an equipment rental. Looked into taxi & public transportation vs a car rental in Seattle. Began a production book/job sheet for the shoot.
And then there were the couple of other projects I was just beginning to estimate and the one I was wrapping up and billing.
While the tasks I performed that day are tasks I do often, it’s stretching it to say that it was a typical day. The most typical thing about it was that I was juggling a few projects. Spending part of my day on one shoot, switching gears to another, and then back to the first. Some
people go to work and have a very typical day in every sense of the word. They repeat tasks over and over. Or they deal with clients or customers in the same manner day in and day out. While there are tasks that I repeat daily or weekly, there are so many more tasks, conversations, places, and people that are different every day or every week in my work. It’s a refreshing challenge.
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