Hello! I am Lucy Marinova, Senior Consultant at Tyto, and this is my location-agnostic life. In this series, we want to highlight the freedom our model enables and how we navigate any challenges it presents.
What’s your morning routine?
I’m very much a morning person – one of those who will give you an energetic wave to say hello before either of us has had a coffee. I usually wake up around 7:30am every day – with no alarm needed – but my workday doesn’t start until 10am, so most of my mornings are about sorting out life admin, doing some yoga or just enjoying a good few final minutes of sleep.
I’m based in Sofia, Bulgaria, but look after PR activities in the UK, which gives me a good hour or two for a nice head start before everyone else wakes up. I use that time to browse through any early news, go through emails and messages that have come through overnight, and re-organise my to-do list, which (I’m sure many PRs would agree) almost never stays the same throughout the day.
How do you organise your day?
Working through priorities has always been the case for me – something that I believe is an essential part of my PR job. While I do have certain tasks that I know we have to complete each day, week or month, priorities can shift by the minute and so does my to-do list. I try to work on bits that are holding other people’s work first, clarifying what we need to achieve and when – I hate being a bottleneck. I also tend to focus on chunkier bits earlier in the day, leaving my afternoons free for meetings with my US clients.
When are you the most productive?
Mornings are definitely my time! I feel fresh and ready to go through the majority of the actions I have for the day. That works quite well for me, given that most of my calls are late in the afternoon.
What is your favourite workplace?
My home office, as it is nice and quiet – one thing that is very difficult to get in a PR agency office! I’d very much like to explore some co-working spaces, or simply go to a coffee shop once or twice a week, but you know… we’re still in the midst of a pandemic, so I try to stay at home most of the time.
What’s your favourite thing about working remotely?
Oh, that’s an easy one – not having to commute! I used to spend more than an hour each day on a packed train in London and was going through all the circles of hell at Bank station for years! Now, I simply walk my slippers to the other room and here I am.
Being able to work from pretty much anywhere is also a big advantage. I only recently moved back to Bulgaria from the UK and the ability to work remotely was really important to me for ensuring that I don’t compromise on my career to get a good work-life balance.
What do you miss about working in an office?
Going out for a drink with colleagues – nothing beats a good old noisy night out and the only difference to doing it when you work remotely is planning it a bit in advance. Tyto has a nice passport scheme, which allows us to travel across different locations to meet, work and have a drink together with colleagues – something I’m SO looking forward to exploring as soon as pandemic restrictions allow it.
What’s your secret weapon?
People and memes. Catching up with colleagues casually for a quick coffee or exchanging a meme or two can really make a difference and brighten up a busy day at work. It’s about staying connected and staying human in everything we do, and I dare to say that we manage to do this brilliantly at Tyto.