The First Hour of a MadGirl's Day

Earlier this week, Fast Company discussed the importance of the first hour of a successful person's workday. They spoke with Tumblr founder, Dave Karp, for a play by play of his first hour of work.

It got me to thinking - what exactly do I do my first hour in the office? Most days my first few hours at work are a blur of many tasks and a growling stomach is my only indication of time gone by.

Hello 9:00AM. Nice to see you again.

Coffee:
No explanation necessary.

Check and Respond to Social Media:
In my position, I manage (what feels like) a boatload of social media accounts.This topic alone could take up my whole day. I check in with each account, see if anything needs to be responded to, and plan content for the day.

Catch up on PR Blogs:
Staying current with PR and Marketing trends is important to me. I've got a few blogs I read daily, and others as I see them float through my Tweet stream. My daily check-ins include NYC PR Girls and Ragan PR Daily.

Read Tech/Gaming News:
VentureBeat, TechCrunch, All Things D -- to name a few. In my current role, I do gaming PR. Being the competitive person I am, I like to see what kind of press placement the other 'PRs' *cringe* are doing. It's also a good source for new pitch ideas and story angles.

Check Email:
It's about 9:45 before I check my emails at work. I confess is that I check for super pressing emails right when I get up in the morning. I use Google's Priority Inbox, it took some getting used to - but I absolutely love it now. Try it.

Check Calendar, Make Task List:
Now on to planning for the rest of the day. I use Google calendar to mark all of my appointments, no matter how far in the future they are.

10:32AM. Whoops.

What is the first hour of your day like? Read the full article 'What Successful People Do With The First Hour of Their Day" on FastCompany.