Tara-Lee MacArthur

Energy Queensland has flexible work arrangements allowing employees to enjoy work-life balance and outside activities. So I work a four day week – one day a week is for my extra activities (industry work but not my day job). In my case, I use my extra day to prep for board meetings. Tuesday's look like this for me (my favourite workday).

6.00 AM

Check my phone - Social media + emails when my alarm goes off.

6.30 AM

Head to work - Perks of working in a smaller regional city where you can drive to work in 10 minutes and get a free park just a 5-minute walk to the office. Once I am in the office, I will start the day by checking my emails and calendar.

8:00 AM

Call with my mentor - I schedule 30 minutes every fortnight to catch up with my mentors. Talk about what has been happening in the industry, share new research and upcoming events. If you're able to find someone who will take you under their wing and share their journey with you, LISTEN!

8.30 AM

Seniors coordination meeting - As one of the seniors in the group, we meet to coordinate the activities between our three teams. My new team deals with auxiliary equipment inside a substation like batteries and we look after the AC and DC supply standards. My old team focuses on power transformers which I still love to help out on. We use this time with our boss to go through the standards plan and what work is due. We have a lot of projects on the go, and some could take up to a year or more to complete. We ask each other questions to clarify things for our own workgroup and help each other with any issues.

9.30 AM

Around the grounds with the team - During this meeting, everyone dials in. Then, team members take turns to say what they have been working on, what they plan to do for the rest of the week and anything that might need help from other team members.

10.00 AM

Coffee (and cake) - There is always cake. Normally if someone is a new starter, or has a birthday, or is getting married, or on their last day, they have to bring cake! A boss gave me a piece of advice once. I will always thank him for this. He would say to me – "GO FOR COFFEE" if a colleague or another workgroup is going instead of working through. Informal chats with people are how we can build solid professional relationships, help reduce work-related stress and gets us up and away from the computer. At our morning tea table, you're almost guaranteed to have a great conversation.

10.30 AM

Checking my to-do list again and tackling what's next. - I will block out time to work on tasks due and call to update others on the progress. I write my to-do list items down on paper, email, phone notes, so this time is usually spent ticking them off one by one or reprioritising tasks. I have a new motto that gets me started “What you resist persists (Carl Jung).” Headphones in.

12.30 PM

Lunch

1.30 PM

Meeting prep - I like to prep for that next meeting if I have time. So, for example, the next session I have today is working on a specification, so I will normally open the old document and the new one, so I am ready to go and share my screen.

2.00 PM

Working on the transformer specification - I am currently working on a specification to buy transformers. Writing a document like this can take some time (+ technical writing skills), but we must get it right. We must ensure that our expectations and requirements are correctly identified on paper before procuring items. We also look at what major projects are coming up and tailor our designs to suit. Being involved in the procurement of assets for a utility is a great role. I get to work with new technology, integrate it into the existing network, and witness the equipment being manufactured and tested. Before the Pandemic, I was lucky to go overseas to see transformer testing. 

5.00 PM

Swim

6.00 PM

Volleyball - I play 2 x games of volleyball. Great to switch off from work and hang out with friends. I also find swimming and volleyball not only good for my physical health but also for my mental health as I can't check my phone or emails. But my friends sometimes have webinars (over in Europe), so I try and catch them between games if they are on!

9.00 PM

Overseas calls with CIGRE - CIGRE is an industry body with which I volunteer. This allows me to work on interesting projects and with colleagues worldwide. I am super proud of our team, as today we just sent our final draft of a new textbook to the editors! The new book is on what I did earlier on Transformer Procurement and my experience drafting a specification.

11:00 PM

Winding down and making notes, goodnight! - I watch TV in bed until I fall asleep. If I have a super late night or a night meeting that runs late, I will try and have a bit of a sleep-in the next day.