24 hours with... Pragya Bijalwan

6-8:30am: Generally wake up early to meditate and practice mindfulness for at least half an hour before I start the day. Through meditation, I center my thoughts on my karma and promise myself to do good each day irrespective of the results. Post the peaceful meditation I catch up on the morning news with a fresh cup of tea. 

 

8:30-10am: I battle the early morning traffic with some energising music in the morning. I reach my office by 9am. Check emails and take a quick walk around to meet and greet the team. After all these years I don’t shy away from preparing a 'do list for the day'. It is an old-school routine but trust me it always works

 

Despite a defined schedule, I keep some part of it fluid to factor in for some unforeseeable human interventions. My work life is beyond the laptop and that’s where I use my time until 4 pm. I mobilise a lot of my time between 10 am to 4 pm with face-to-face human interaction wherever possible. While I pause and reflect on my work every day after 4 pm. 

 

10am to 1pm: 'Eat the frog first' - early in the day I self-block sometimes to take up the most complex yet critical work. It helps to bring out new ideas with a fresh mind. I likewise work with different teams and stakeholders internally. Thereafter use the rest of the time to clear off emails.

 

1-1:30pm: I usually block my time for lunch where I sit with my colleagues to enjoy some homemade food coupled with a few fun chats which keep the mood lighter and build a relationship with the team that is beyond transactional. Well, my food is not limited to this time indeed I do enjoy shorter healthy snacks during the day with a multiple-box lunch bag for the day. A lot of times, it's also a conversation starter and icebreaker with colleagues. I believe you can't bond better over anything but good food. 

 

1:30-4pm: This time is usually consumed for meetings collaborating with people internally and agency partners on key projects. During these meetings, I try and humanise the conversations making them real and relatable since I lead a young and diverse team where you can't stereotype a conversation/solution. A simple conversation while strolling in the office with a few colleagues often helps to unpeel the most complex problems, hence avoiding meeting room fatigue. In between all of this, I often take short breaks to stretch and walk around.

 

4-7pm: I reserve some quiet time in the evening to focus on tasks that require minimal distractions, such as planning, data analysis, reading industry-related articles, etc. I also do a final check on the do list for the day and plan my next day before closing the day.

 

7-8pm: I usually drive back around this time and use this time to connect with family and friends and reply to all the missed calls. Catching up with the real offline world with a close circle of friends and family keeps me going.

 

8-9pm: This is my time to unwind for the day with an exhaustive workout session focusing on a mix of cardio and strength training. I adopt different formats each day to keep it interesting while getting inspired by my fitness enthusiast friends at the gym. This workout regime has acted as a mental and physical detox for more than a decade now.

 

10-11pm: As I finally close my day, I catch up with the online world with Netflix and sometimes my favorite book picks for the month. At the end after a fulfilling day, I ensure I get at least seven hours of peaceful sleep time to be fully ready and energised for the next day!