At 9:00 am, I start my workday by checking my email. One email is about a DTP project estimation. Another email has a project ready for me to work on, with a deadline of ASAP. The third email is an announcement of a larger project coming up next week. Do we have the necessary resources for this task? There is another email in the queue, this time with a specific project. The client is asking if we can handle PDF OCR and layout recreation in INDD format.
I respond to the emails attentively and with dedication. Meanwhile, more emails keep coming in. Implementing corrections from translators for a project we worked on earlier.
I continue responding to emails, and the inbox is almost entirely read. Suddenly, a problem arises. The PDF cannot print correctly. There’s an issue with a font that’s displaying incorrectly. I react quickly and after a few minutes, I manage to find a solution.
Minutes pass, and another email arrives. OCR and document recreation again. This time, in the DOCX format.
The work is well-planned and organized, and everything is progressing at its own pace. However, DTP work is characterized by unpredictability. More inquiries and projects with tight deadlines come in.
In the meantime, my colleagues ask me questions on how to solve certain issues in the best and easiest way possible. It’s something that drives me the most, so I delve into these matters and happily find solutions.
It’s only halfway through the day, and so much has already happened. Lunchtime is usually quieter on my mailbox, providing an excellent opportunity to focus on the projects I’ve been working on since the morning. By 3:00 pm, everything is completed. That’s when more projects come in for estimation. We spend the next few minutes working on them, but in the meantime, more projects come in for execution. A FrameMaker project and a few smaller ones in InDesign.
It’s 5:00 pm, and everything that was planned has been sent out. Then, the last email arrives. Another project for estimation. Hundreds of pages of PDFs for conversion. Fortunately, the client mentions that we can prepare it for the next day. However, I’m intrigued by the volume and complexity of the files. To wrap up my work peacefully, I decide to analyze this project and provide a comprehensive estimate for the client the same day.
At 5:30 pm, I finish my work. It was an exhausting day. But these are the days I enjoy the most. The days when a lot is happening. It keeps me from thinking about fatigue, and I’m constantly in the action.
