A Day in the Life of a Delivery Lead
A peek at my typical workday as a full-time remote employee at ITHAKA
A couple years ago we had to shift to working — and working effectively — remotely. I developed a good routine and now treat each day as simply a workday, not a work-from-home day. It has been a shift, and part of that shift was building in the right kinds of healthy breaks and daily tactics to maintain my productivity and ensure I’m leading my teams effectively. If you’re wondering what it’s like to lead teams from around the world as a remote employee, here’s a day in my life as a delivery lead at ITHAKA.
6–8 AM — Getting started
I’m an early bird, so I start my days around 6 AM. Movement is key for me, especially now that I’m not commuting into town and walking to the office, so I usually start the day with a bit of meditation and a workout.
After that, I log in to catch up on messages, review my calendar, and prep for meetings. I help lead three teams and I have team members from Pakistan and every continental US time zone, which means there’s often some time lag in communications. It also means I’m sometimes in a lot of meetings, so these first few hours of the workday are the quietest for me. Logging in early allows me to truly focus on what everyone needs from me today.
Today I have a retrospective, so meeting prep means creating a Mural board (I like to make it as creative as I can to keep engagement high) and gathering metrics for insights into our sprint (trends in velocity, cycle time, and other sprint highlights). For my Sprint Planning/Lock-In meeting I’ll pull the tickets we prepared together, draft our sprint goals, ensure we have some metrics to help determine our velocity, and take a peek at who might be out in case that affects the work.
8–9 AM — Breakfast, coffee & dog walk
Most people at ITHAKA know I have a corgi. Dave Hollinden, a sweet and deeply missed former colleague, gave me the title “Corgi Lady” many years ago, and I cherish that now. So after I get a little work done, I take a quick break to take my corgi out for her morning walk, give her breakfast, and then get myself some breakfast and coffee.
9 AM – noon — Let the games begin
This is when my day really gets going. Most mornings are spent in standups, quick post-standup discussions, and code reviews. Today, my morning also includes the sprint planning meeting for one of my teams, so I facilitate that and ensure the team is in good shape and ready to start the new round of work.
One of the nice things about our Ann Arbor office is the standing desks throughout the space. I now have one at home too, so I can stand up throughout the day (especially after lunch) or use the walking pad during meetings I’m not facilitating. When I’m standing, I try to do some yoga stretches, arm stretches, or a quick breathing meditation. Regular breaks and regular movement are both vital to maintaining my focus and energy so I don’t feel overwhelmed or drained.
Since 2020, I’ve invested in creating a dedicated office space at home, which I know is a privilege and a luxury. It is one I do not take for granted. My office space reflects me and is filled with things I love, and I keep the windows open to let in bright light. One of the best things is a door that closes, in case my husband is also working from home across the hall.
Noon – 1 PM — Lunch & dog walk
Time for a quick break to walk my dog and enjoy the sunshine. As I mentioned before, it’s easy for me to forget to stand up, move around, or leave the desk when I’m working from home. So I strive to walk my dog for at least 20–30 minutes (weather and meetings permitting) so we both get some movement and she gets to enjoy the outdoors. After our walk I’ll make a quick lunch, which I typically eat at my desk before my afternoon meetings.
1–4:30 PM — Meetings & focus time
My afternoons often include 1:1 meetings with the tech and team leads on my three teams and with my manager and external team managers. These regular meetings ensure transparency and clear communication so we know about issues we need to escalate or risks we need to assess. Today, I also have that retrospective I mentioned; I lead and facilitate that meeting and ensure that we end that with a few clear action items so we are continuously improving our processes.
After the meetings are done I’ll catch up on outstanding messages or action items. Today I have some follow-ups and documentation to organize from a team agreement session, as well as new quarterly goals, draft OKRs, and roadmaps plus a quick feedforward session for a team member. I typically end my day around 4:30 or 5:00 unless I have a late meeting. This always means another, longer walk for my dog — corgis require a lot of movement to stay active and not be bored, and the movement is great for me, too.
Things that have helped me
Mindset
I’ve found it puts me in the right mindset when I dress as if I were going to the office. Everyone is different, of course, but for me it’s an important part of my routine.
Time management
I am a stickler for organization and keeping my time. I’m a list person, so my organized list of things to get done or keep track of is an absolute must for my day.
Communication!
I am also a habitual over-communicator. This is critical in my role as a Delivery Lead. Ensuring that each of my teams knows what the other teams are doing is key to making sure that things aren’t missed.
Regular breaks
I know I said I typically eat lunch at my desk but I try hard not to. (I’m still working on this!) I do try to physically leave my office space so I can get a little break. When I’m standing, I will try to do some kind of yoga stretches, arm stretches, or a quick 5-min breathing meditation with the Calm app (thanks, ITHAKA!).
Socializing
It can be hard to stay social when working from home. What I love about ITHAKA is that I have the option to go into the office, which I am trying to do more so that I can see my coworkers in person. Sometimes a few of us meet at a cafe/coffee shop with Wi-Fi. I also create social hours with my teams so we can have a little unfocused fun from time to time!
This flexibility has been great for my productivity and mental health. Keeping my life in balance means that I lead my teams more effectively and model the way for my team members, especially those who are also working from home.
Working from home was a shift for me, as I’ve said, but I’ve learned to love it. I hope this gives you some insight into what it’s like to work remotely with ITHAKA, or some ideas to make your own work situation the best possible for you, no matter where you do your work.
Interested in learning more about working at ITHAKA — remotely or in our offices in Ann Arbor or New York? Contact recruiting to learn more about ITHAKA tech jobs.
Editor’s note: A shorter version of this blog was previously posted on ITHAKA’s LinkedIn Life page as “Meet Aparna.”
