A Day in the Life of a Typical Digital Marketer vs. My Day Yesterday

I was sent an email from a reader of Pharma Marketing Blog directing me to an infographic about the day in the life of a digital marketer. You can view the entire graphic here, but I want to focus on the section reproduced below and compare that to what my day looked like yesterday. You can compare it to your own day and see if you fit the pattern.

Click on image for an enlarged view.

So how typical is this?

There are a few things I notice about this fictitious day in the life of a digital marketer. First, rising and shinning at 6 AM. I assume this is east coast US time. Yesterday, I got out of bed at 4:30 AM and most days I get up at 5:00 AM because I have clients in Europe who have been at work for several hours even while I'm sleeping.

Do most digital marketers get up early? What if you are based on the west coast of the US? If you are not up at 4 or 5 AM, you are missing a lot of opportunities.

I don't know what this guy -- let's call him Typical DigGuy -- does between waking up and eating breakfast. Maybe like me, he cooks his own breakfast and does some bathroom-related business. Of course, I have breakfast but I don't check the news on my iPad. I play backgammon - complete waste of time, I know, but there it is.

Are most digital marketers multi-tasking dynamos like Typical DigGuy? He even works while eating lunch! When do you guys play?

It looks like Typical DigGuy showers, shaves, etc., before breakfast. Not me. I can do that whenever, but usually after I turn on my iMac and begin work starting with opening up my email and responding to my EU client questions, etc.

It only takes Typical DigGuy 30 minutes to commute to and from work. Nice! I, of course, do not have to commute most days, but when I do it usually doesn't go smoothly. I won't get into that!

While I was commuting to a digital conference in Philly yesterday, Typical DigGuy planned his day, checked his important email, huddled with his crew, had a meeting, and touched base with his clients. Whew! I was able to do some mull-tasking by twitting (search on hash tag #cbi-sm to view my tweets or see widget below) and responding to email while at the conference.

#cbi-sm Tweets

Unlike Typical DigGuy, I did not stay at my conference until the end and commute back home at night after "chatting up" the important people. My son decided he'd like to have dinner with me and his mom. So I left the conference early around 3:30 PM and got home at 5:00 and just hung out watching "Better Call Saul" on my DVR and playing more backgammon. Then I spent time with my family at dinner out and got home at 9:00 at which time I went to bed! I don't know about you, but it takes me an hour or so before I fall asleep.

Meanwhile, Typical DigGuy spent an indeterminable amount of time after 9:00 PM catching up on blogging, research, and posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

Typical DigGuy seems driven to succeed. But does spending almost every waking hour on your work increase your chances of success in digital marketing?