5.45 AM

My alarm goes off at 5.45 AM. After I shower, change, eat breakfast, do some morning chores, and pack my lunch (usually leftovers from dinner), I’m ready to leave my house around 7.15 AM.

7.15 AM

The drive to work takes roughly 45 minutes, 30 minutes on a good day, and an hour on a bad one. During the commute, I’ve either got some music playing, or I’m listening to a podcast.

8.00 AM

I get into work at 8.00 AM and set up my laptop, notepad and other necessary stationary for an effective workday. I then go through my emails, check my calendar for any meetings or webinars during the day/week, and note down my key tasks for the day. Since Riley has flexible working hours, the office is relatively quiet at this time, as more people tend to come in later in the day. Because of this, I spend the first couple hours of the morning working on tasks with which I’m not reliant on others, tasks where I don’t require assistance or advice from senior engineers. Today I am progressing a 3D model for a windfarm project that I’m working on. Using a software known as 12d Model, I run through an iterative process defining and refining the placements of wind turbine platforms, roads and other facilities for a proposed windfarm. This can be an extremely tough process at times as due to the many constraints placed on the design brief. But I keep trying and thinking of the best solutions, and if I feel very stuck, I ask around my department for help.

9.30 AM

Around 9.30 AM is when I take my first break for morning tea. By this time, most staff will be in the office, so once I finish my snack, I move onto the tasks that require collaboration with others. Today I went to a fellow civil engineer to get some advice on how to tackle a certain modelling error I was having trouble with; I gave it a good go myself but struggled to get the system to work. My colleague helps me through it, and I carry on the 3D modelling process.

10.30 AM

Since it’s a Monday, this means we have our Weekly Civil Team Meeting, this involves all the Riley civil engineers.

The meeting usually lasts around an hour and acts as an overview of the week ahead for everyone, so that everyone gains an understanding of workload and availability of their colleagues. The Project Managers will also update everyone on key deliverables that are due in the upcoming week, when they are due, and what percentage of work has been done towards completion. Following this, the Civil Health and Safety Representative will present the weekly topic as well as reveal any new incidents that may have occurred, this way everyone else can be aware of and learn from any accident or near miss that took place. The Operations Manager will then run everyone through the company and team financials, as well as any upcoming courses and seminars.

11.30 AM

By this time, I’m back at my desk, checking emails and messages I may have received and finishing off bits and pieces of work before I head to lunch.

12.00 PM

I like to head to lunch about now. For lunch I will either eat a sandwich or leftovers from dinner. I usually finish my lunch in 15-20 minutes and spend the rest of the time either talking to others in the kitchen area or going on a walk outside, since it’s nice to get some sunshine and fresh air being stuck inside an office all day.

12.30 PM

Once again back at my desk, progressing as much work as I can for half an hour before an upcoming presentation.

1.00 PM

Today we have a Drainage supply company coming in to give us a presentation on their new products. A few times a year, we will have suppliers come into the office to showcase their products and other offers, explaining their systems and what separates them from other competitors. This is to persuade Riley to specify their products in our design specifications and drawings as consultants. Most, if not all suppliers who come to present, bring in sweet treats for everyone to enjoy. This specific presentation was about drainage systems as well as water storage tanks specialising in retention and detention, particularly about how the company uses innovative technology to make the network and infrastructure more efficient.

2.00 PM

After the hour-long presentation, it’s back to work. I decide to take a break from my initial project and move on to another one so I’m making progress along both and have something to show to my Project Managers. This task is a Civil Assessment Report on a new subdivision development. The report involves me researching into past documents that are available, surrounding the location and property in question. This means reading through the planners and architect’s assessments, information provided by the client, and crucially, the public GIS viewers and GeoMaps provided by Auckland Council. This allows me to give a description on the underground services, networks, and related flooding effects and measures; Furthermore, if they are sufficient for the proposed development, and if not, what Riley would propose as a practical solution.

3.00 PM

By about 3.00 PM, I start to feel hungry again, so I take my last break for afternoon tea to give me the last boost of energy for the remaining hours of work. Today, just like most other days, I had a protein bar, a small but reasonably filling snack. Then back to work, I try to get as much of the report done before I head home.

4.30 PM

Home time! Well not exactly, I change into my gym clothes and start the jog to the gym. The jog takes roughly 10 minutes and acts as a nice warm-up, especially in the winter; I do drive to the gym if it’s raining, but I prefer not to. My gym session takes roughly an hour, and depending on how tired I am, and then I walk back to my work carpark as a nice warm-down.

6.00 PM

Back to the carpark and for the 45-minute drive back home, carrying on the music and/or podcast from the morning drive into work.

6.45 PM

I reach home, unpack all my bags: office, gym and lunch, pack my gym bag for tomorrow, and hop in the shower. Once I’ve freshened up, it’s dinner time.

7.45 PM

By 7.45 PM I’ve finished my dinner, as well as the dishes, other chores, and brushing my teeth etc; So I head to my room to relax before bedtime.

9.15 PM

On most days I spend the next hour and a half either watching a show, reading a book, scrolling social media, or talking to my friends on Messenger. This time of the night is usually when the group chats are most active so the talks can go on endlessly. I’m always the first to have to call it a night, so once again, I know I will have to catch the rest of the messages the next day. I try to be in bed by 9.15 PM to get a good night’s sleep, and if I’m lucky I succeed; Today I did not…… but tomorrow I’ll try again.

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