Thursdays are meant to be a slightly more relaxed day for me. On Tuesday I have my GMTV slots and the mammoth work behind the weekly e-mail on Wednesdays it’s full paced scripting, rehearsing then filming It Pays To Watch, and Thursday is meant to be catch up day.
Sadly my easy Thursdays are long gone. So I thought I would update my last what goes in a day blog. Forgive the bullet points, it makes it easier.
- Got up.
- Left to go MSE Towers.
- Got stopped, asked and answered two MoneySaving questions by people in the street on the way.
- Arrived at MSE towers at 8.50am.
- Went through e-mails (44 already in in box – since I checked at 11.30pm the night before)
- Got the Cheap Supermarkets guide and finished my rewrite and work for an hour, did it in the coffee bar bit of the complex in MSE Towers so I could focus on it with out disruptions.
- Came back to the office – and chatted to the MSE team about web priorities for the next few days.
- Went upstairs to the MoneySaving Productions office where the It Pays To Watch team are. Chatted through last week’s programme and as I was in the mood came up with the questions for next week’s Moneybrain quiz that we’ll be putting Kyran Bracken through.
- Discussed whether we should have the words “Highlights below” at the top of the weekly e-mail to explain the headlines with the MSE designer.
- Got a call from journalist at the Sunday Post in Scotland. I have a column there and it’s done by him interviewing me and I go through it on the phone. It takes about 25 mins. I decide to do cash ISA transfers, as it was on the top of my mind.
- Got on a taxi motorbike (I travel a lot like this now, it’s actually in my contract for a few places I broadcast with – as it saves SO much time), slightly late
- Arrived with two mins to spare to do an hour long speech for the LSE in the West End Peacock Theatre. It was for students and parents about student finance. I’d been so rushed I hadn’t had any time to think about what I was going to say, so I winged in for 45 minutes then did a Q&A. Luckily student finance is something I’m passionate about so it was fine.
- Got in a normal black cab to come back, driver said as I got in “I read all your safe savings stuff, you’re in my browser’s favourites” and discussed savings safety.
- Returned call from a Radio 4 Moneybox producer to answer questions about “safe savings”, which the cabbie laughed at the end “I’m really pleased, ‘cos I knew all that, don’t know why she didn’t just read your article!”
- Then returned a call to a producer on ITV Tonight, Gregor, who’s doing a programme on life insurance and critical illness for which I’m being interviewed , and chatted through my views.
- Called the features editor of the News of the World to discuss the column but he wasn’t there.
- Got back to the office did emails (another 60 arrived since I left).
- LUNCH. Went out to grab lunch, took three articles with me. 1. Cheap MOTs which I updated last week, to read through. 2. Supermarkets for another check. 3. The first draft of my NOTW article. Eat with one hand, had red pen going through them with the other.
- Came back and discussed what subjects were likely for GMTV & LK next week with the team who help manage my personal workload – Judy and Natasha.
- Went back to the coffee bar, to carry on work for an hour on my News of the World Column on cashback credit cards for next week.
- My Sunday Post column came to my in-box, spent half an hour getting it to be the way I wanted.
- Spoke to the lawyer about a number of issues we have going on.
- This week’s News of the World PDF proof came through in email, needed checking – didn’t have the time. Script meet for IPTW on structure. I went through the plans for next week’s It Pays To Watch, it’s a two hour meeting with the series producer Debbie and money assistant producer Guy. This is effectively where I brain dump all the stuff and content that I want to get into the programme and we try and see how we can structure it, squeeze it in and come up with any creative ideas to make it work.
- Discussed the content of my It Pays To Watch Mirror column which I do as part of the show each Wednesday, and worked out exactly what we were doing.
- Finished the meeting at 6.45 – was late – the MSF had theatre tickets and while feeling stressed about getting everything done, realised it was probably good to have a break so had to grab a cab again.
- In cab did a quick interview on mortgage admin fees for the metro.
- Tried to return call from Sunday Times for interview on savings safety couldn’t get through.
- Checked emails on laptop to clear the rest of the days (another 50 more).
- Arrived at theatre.
- Watched first half of ‘Fat Pig’ but wasn’t really that focused as was thinking about work, thankfully managed to relax into it.
- In the interval – had some maltesers as I’d missed dinner and took out the proof of my News of the World column to go through and tidied up the rest of the Sunday Post that I hadn’t quite finished (felt a prat having laptop out in theatre).
- Left at 9.30, tried to catch up with the MSFs day on the way back.
- Came home. Checked emails (dealt with 30 more) and sent notes to the news of the world column.
- Finished all that by 11.00.
- Wrote this blog.
- Going to bed.
