7.30 AM

I roll out of bed upon the sound of the alarm. I take a moment to stretch, meditate and prepare a simple oatmeal breakfast. The process helps me balance my mental well-being and feel grounded.

8.15 AM

I take the bus to the office, listening to a playlist curated specifically for this 25-minute travel.

8.25 AM

The bus took the wrong turn and went to a stop further away from my office. Time to make a run for it!

8.50 AM

Slightly out of breath, I walk in and wave hello to my colleagues sitting at the concierge. I take the lift to my floor and greet the team, catching up on what we did during the weekend.

After logging into my computer, I check my email inbox and my calendar. I note down meetings to attend and to-dos for the day, adding to my list of priorities from the day before. Time management is crucial because I currently have carriage of 5 matters and am assisting in managing a couple of branch-wide projects.

9.00 AM

A team member reviewed my briefing note on a privacy matter I have carriage of. I take their feedback into consideration and email the client some further questions to clarify the facts.

On a different matter, I worK on drafting a request for legal advice based on previous preliminary advice I had given the clients.

10.10 AM

The clients responded on the privacy matter. After review, I consider it best to clarify the questions verbally and message the clients via Microsoft Teams to arrange a quick meeting.

10.20 AM

I jump on a call with the client, asking questions and taking notes of the conversation. It was a productive conversation and I now feel comfortable with progressing with my draft advice. I make a note of the meeting and start working on the draft.

11.30 AM

I finish drafting and head out for an early lunch in the courtyard, sitting in the sun with a chicken and avo sandwich in hand. I walk into the café and hear that it's the barista's last day. We laugh about the fact that they almost charged me $1 for a coffee and I wish them the best of luck for the future.

12.00 PM

Refreshed from the lunch break, I came back to some new emails from an external law firm that is providing us with a privacy impact assessment. I reply with a set of instructions, as discussed during a stand-up meeting with the team.

12.15 PM

I print out the draft advice and go through it with a red pen to check for any errors. It's easy to scroll past errors on a Word document so I prefer to print and edit the draft advice before I send it to a senior lawyer for their review. Once the pages are filled with red marks, I go back to the document and make my edits.

I close the document – I'll have another look at it tomorrow morning with a fresh set of eyes before I send it off.

1.00 PM

I check the legislative reform register that I’m maintaining with my line manager for the branch. I flagged an email that was sent to us about it and checked in with my line manager to chat about the next steps.

2.00 PM

I attend a session on the latest privacy reforms. Most parts of the presentation are very relevant to my current space of work.

3.00 PM

I check in with a senior lawyer about some of my work they’re reviewing. There’s a tight timeframe, so we talk briefly about client expectation management strategies.

3.15 PM

I finish drafting the request for legal advice and send it to the supervising lawyer for this matter.

4.00 PM

To start winding down, I file emails, notes and other documents to our record-keeping software, noting timelines and the current state of each matter. It's a tedious task but it's a requirement under the Archives Act 1983 and good practice for legal professionals to maintain.

4.40 PM

Before I head off, I cross out all the tasks I completed for the day and jot down my priorities for the next day.

4.50 PM

Logging off, I say my goodbyes to everyone in the office and head toward the bus stop.

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