Mihir Kothapally

4.30 AM

My first alarm goes off, and then I hit snooze continuously for the next 30 minutes.

5.00 AM 

I drag myself out of bed, walk to my car and scrape off all the residual ice from the usual cold Melbourne weather before heading to the gym, all while questioning why on earth I’m awake at this hour.

6.00 AM

Back home from the gym and I get ready for work, drive to the train station, and head into the city.

8.15 AM

After finding an available desk (the key with hot-desking is to get in early), I greet my colleagues, inhale some oats in the kitchen, and then sit back down with a fresh cup of coffee.

9.30 AM

I’ve cleared my inbox and responded to all urgent emails and meeting requests. Now it’s time to begin work for one of my clients, on a cybersecurity piece. This engagement mainly focuses on cybersecurity from a business perspective, where we’re assisting the client in defining how the Security Team should be utilised in the Project Management Lifecycle.

11.00 AM

I have an internal meeting with some colleagues to provide them with an update on the client’s deliverable and finalise some remaining process maps. My Career Advisor and I discuss what additional value we can deliver, on top of the current product, and decide to get back to each other tomorrow morning for another status update.

12.30 PM

I ate my first lunch an hour ago. Still, I grab something extra from the café downstairs and join my colleagues at the lunch table for our daily office newspaper quiz (I’m not very helpful, but I provide moral support while they provide answers to the questions). 

We then catch up on how we spent our weekends and what we’re currently all working on and talk about a Social Club event later in the week that we’re all excited about.

2.00 PM

I head over to a client site for a status update meeting to discuss the current state of the client’s deliverable, the key milestones that we’ve reached this week, and our plan of action for the next week. The client then provides feedback on our current PowerPoint report.

3.30 PM

Back at work with another coffee, my desk has been poached, so I place my belongings in the break area near our plant wall – good oxygen for the brain!

I begin working on the deliverable using the client’s feedback from our meeting to start perfecting it. My manager comes to talk to me, and we discuss our next steps and distribute the work to outline our responsibilities for the upcoming week.

I then begin analysing the notes taken during today’s client meeting and begin searching for solutions to any problems noted during the meeting, via our inhouse publication and tools platform, KnowledgeLeader.

4.30 PM

On the home stretch. I jump into one of our conference rooms to gather with my fellow Diversity and Inclusion peers. Protiviti has a number of D&I networks to support inclusivity in the workplace. These include iGROWW (for women in the workplace), ProPride, Multicultural, Parents Network, and the Green Champions.

We discuss potential activities for the next year, outline a draft of key dates to conduct these activities, and assign responsibilities and a budget.  

5.00 PM

On my way back to my desk I stop to admire our epic view over Melbourne city – we’re so lucky to work here! However, I think I’m now addicted to drinking coffee.

I quickly respond to any emails that have come in this afternoon and then start packing up my stuff. I wave goodbye to my colleagues and prepare to depart for my long journey home.

6.30 PM

I walk in the door at home, feeling tired but satisfied that I had a productive day. I unwind with some Netflix and think about what I’ll be doing tomorrow at work.

7.30 PM

My flatmate has made dinner – score! I eat, then take my dog Podrick for a walk around the block.

8.30 PM

I remember I’ve agreed to help present at tomorrow morning’s Breakfast and Learn, so I take a look over the PowerPoint presentation and add my changes.

9.30 PM

If my eyes haven’t shut on me yet, I jump on LinkedIn Learning and start browsing through some courses related to my current project. This is primarily to enhance my knowledge of various subjects, but it also helps ensure that I can keep up with conversations between my manager and the client.

10.30 PM

I get ready for bed, set my alarms, and scroll social media until I likely fall asleep with my phone in my hand (which usually falls on my face when I fall asleep), ready to do it all again tomorrow.