Celine Watson

I’m currently engaged as an analyst within the Program Management Office (PMO) of a large transformation in the healthcare sector. But today is a special day in my life because my team have organised a volunteering morning at FareShare, Australia’s largest charity kitchen. At KPMG, we can take a day of volunteer leave to support a not-for-profit organisation and give back to the community.

5.00 AM

My alarm goes off, and while I’d love to say I jump right out of bed – I do spend about 10 minutes on my phone before getting up. Once I’m up, I get ready to head to my pilates class. I find that taking some time just for me at the beginning of the day and getting some exercise helps get me in the right headspace to take on the day.

5.30 AM

Pilates time! At the end of each class, they do a short relaxation session, which is easily my favourite part.

6.30 AM

I walk home after class and it’s time for breakfast and my first coffee of the day before I start getting ready for work. My current breakfast obsession is hashbrowns loaded with scrambled eggs, cottage cheese & hot honey (if you don’t know what hot honey is, do yourself a favour and look it up!). Tastes amazing and keeps me going until lunchtime.

7.45 AM

I jump on a bus and make my way to FareShare. On the bus, I check my calendar, reply to a few emails and messages, and plan for the day ahead. I’m a big believer in making to-do lists. I find it helps me to keep track of everything I need to accomplish.

8.30 AM 

I arrive at the FareShare kitchen where I meet up with the rest of my team. After a tour of the kitchen and warehouse, we’re given an apron and put to work packing meals.

10.30 AM

Time for a morning tea break, and there were plenty of delicious options available – all baked fresh and donated to FareShare by a local bakery school. Yum!

12.00 PM

We reach the end of our shift. It feels good to know that the 1,575 meals we packed will be going to Queenslanders who are doing it tough.

12.15 PM

Time to go back to the Brisbane KPMG office. Before I head up, I grab a quick bite to eat from one of the cafés downstairs.

1.00 PM

Once I go upstairs to level 9, it’s time for coffee number two! And a quick chat to a few of my colleagues on the way from the kitchen to my desk. I usually like to choose a desk with a city view, and today is no exception.

1.15 PM

Because I missed the morning stand-up where we provide an update on what we’re all working on, identify any key challenges and align on priorities, I check in with my colleagues to confirm any urgent work to be completed in the afternoon.

1.30 PM

There’s nothing super pressing so I jump into one of the PMO initiatives I’ve been working on for the past week. I’m currently building out a schedule so we can track the development, review process, and submission of all our reports on a cadence. This will help us better anticipate our upcoming workload and manage our time more efficiently. Having reported on a cadence also ensures that stakeholders receive timely information about project progress, performance, or other key metrics, facilitating informed decision-making and ongoing monitoring.

3.00 PM

On Friday afternoons, there’s a 30-minute check-in with my colleagues from my engagement. It’s a great opportunity for us to connect as a team, have a bit of fun, share any concerns, wins or life events, and come closer as a team.

3.30 PM

I decided to get a head start on drafting some of the reports that will go to the Program Director for review next week. Today I’m focusing on the project status report for the current reporting period which provides an update on the program status and the risk and issue profile (including mitigations) for internal executives. I also started collating the documents required for a piece of work the PMO will be providing support on next week.

5.15 PM

As the day draws to a close, I do a final check of my emails and look ahead to next week. I find getting any remaining tasks out of my head and written down helps me switch off from work over the weekend and come back nice and refreshed for a new week on Monday morning.

5.45 PM

Time to log off for the day and head for the bus. Pulling out the headphones to listen to some music on the way home – 9 times out of 10 it’s Taylor Swift.

6.45 PM

Once I get home, it’s straight into some comfy clothes. While I prefer to cook at home most nights, because it’s Friday, I order some takeout as a reward for making it to the end of the working week!

7.30 PM

Time to relax. Usually, this means watching some TV with my fiancé and wearing a face mask. I’m a big sitcom fan and am currently making my way through Seinfeld for the second time!

10.30 PM

Bedtime. Time for a quick scroll through Instagram before lights out.

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