Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager: Quarantine Edition

I've been in quarantine since March 13th and my daily routines look very different now from two months ago... just like everyone else's. 

I am someone who is a creature of habit, who loves her little routines and relies heavily on doing the same thing every day. After about two weeks, I was in the groove of my quarantine routine and now I'm an old pro.

The weekdays are definitely easier on me because really, that routine has hardly changed. I'm still working from 9-5 every day, working out, dinner, cleaning, blogging, and then tv & bed. The weekends are vastly different and that's another post for another day.

Today, I want to highlight what my Monday-Friday looks like as a social media manager while working from home in the middle of a pandemic. 

*If you don't know, I run social media for a beauty brand and have been at this job since September. Previously, I was the Social Media Assistant Manager at Laura Geller Beauty for 4 years. I started in social media when I graduated from college in 2014 and truly love everything I do.

8-8:30 AM

• Wake up, hit snooze a few times and finally wake up 
• Scroll through Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and then roll out of bed
• Wash my face with Garnier Micellar Water, brush my teeth and then make my bed
• Head into the kitchen, make coffee, and then do a mini skincare routine that consists of Skyn Iceland Hydrogel Patches, Tula Eye Balm, and Supergoop Glow Screen SPF. 

9 AM

• Sit at my desk, open my work computer, and get started on the day! 
• Answer emails, respond to comments and DMs, schedule posts for the day/week
• Around 9:30 AM, I might have a granola bar before my actual breakfast because I'm not super hungry in the morning. 

10 AM-2 PM

Just a little peek at what my desk looks like during the day

• Meetings usually start at 10 AM (except if there is a rare 9 AM meeting) and will run all day. I average 2-4 meetings per day and we have been using Microsoft Teams for them. I love Teams so much - it has helped me feel really connected to the company and my co-workers. We've done company-wide meetings, happy hours, and game nights with it so I could not recommend enough.
• I'll eat breakfast around 10:30, 11 AM depending on when my meetings occur. My go-to's are oatmeal or a breakfast sandwich. 
• In between meetings, I'm answering more emails, creating Instagram Stories in Canva & Photoshop, scheduling posts, and writing copy. If I have a deadline for a project, this is usually my productive time. 
• At the beginning of each month, I have to do reporting for the last month so depending on timing, a lot of my day consists of that. 

2:30-5 PM 

• After 2 PM, I take a break and have lunch. It can consist of Tyson Air Fried Chicken Nuggets, Steamfresh Veggie Pasta, Trader Joes Mini Chicken Tacos or Chicken Cilantro Wontons. 
• After lunch, until 5 PM, there might be more meetings but I try to focus on copy and content creation so that my brain can rest a little from presentations and reports. 
• Once 5 PM comes, unless there is a virtual happy hour, I close down my laptop and put it away for the night. This helps me keep some sort of balance and if something is really urgent, I have my work phone. 

Other things I might tackle during the day:

• Influencer briefs or reports
• Webinars/virtual conferences -- there have been so many of these popping up and it's a great way to learn more about my field and break up the day.
• Competitive reporting/analysis - this is a good way to find new content to post and see what the industry is up too. 
• Community management never stops so every hour or so I'll check on my posts, respond to comments and DMs, and just engage with the followers. 
• Things come up last minute all the time so I might have to throw a presentation or analysis together last minute or put together a content brief. At the beginning of COVID, things were changing hour by hour and it was a wild ride but a great learning experience. 

After 5 PM 

• Depending on the weather and my energy level, I will do a pilates workout, a weight workout, or go for a walk. At the start of quarantine, I thought I'd do video at home workouts but after a few tries, they just didn't work for me. 
• After a workout, I'll cook/help with dinner, shower, and rest for the night. I might read, do some blogging, other writing, or just lay in bed watching TV until an appropriate time to get under my covers. 

I'm very grateful to have a job that allows me to work from home and a company that has taken great steps to keep us informed and take care of us. I am so thankful for this job and to be able to do what I love... even in the middle of a global pandemic.

Let me know if you liked this style of post - I will definitely do a nighttime routine and a weekend one!

xoxo
B