PCG’s Rosie Libell makes sure freelancers’ voices are heard

My day

6:00am: The first alarm of the day goes off. As much as I try to ignore it, it doesn’t go away. I frantically get ready and make a salad – I’m still trying my best at the New Year diet …

8:00am: After the morning commute (listening to cheesy pop to get me going), I get into the office to review what’s happening in the newspapers that may affect freelancers, particularly looking at the business and politics sections. I have been forced to embrace the digital age and read the majority of the papers on my fancy iPad (I’m still learning how to use it even after having it for six months) but I very much appreciate the hard copy of City AM from the friendly people at St James’ Park tube.

After this, I respond to emails, check our media coverage and finally grab that all important coffee.

9:00am: Hot beverage in hand, I catch up with my manager and let him know of any news stories affecting freelancers that we can react to, such as Government announcements. I then draft the release to allow enough time for approval.

10:30am: This is the deadline I normally set to put the reaction release out (and any other release for that matter). Obviously, this isn’t always possible and some need to be pushed back, such as PCG’s reaction to the speeches by the Prime Minister and other senior politicians at the FSB conference.

11:15am: Once the release has gone out, I make sure I stay at my desk so I can quickly respond to any press enquires that come in. In the meantime, I keep an eye on key politicians and journalists on Twitter (I admit I sometimes get distracted by the endless stories about cats) and catch up with the policy team to see what they’re up to and if there’s anything I can help with. This week I’ve been researching business journalists in Brussels to invite to our European manifesto launch.

Sometimes I also take this time to write a piece for our Freelancing Matters magazine. A recent article was about the bizarre excuses that people have used to try and avoid doing their tax returns – “I had a run in with a cow” was my personal favourite.

12:30: Time for that sad salad I made at 6am. As we like to make sure there is someone at the press office phone at all times, there’s always a heated debate with my colleagues of who is the hungriest and gets to go first – I usually win.

1:30pm: Back to work. If I had to choose my favourite part of the day, this would be it because I can continue working on our campaign plans. We’ve got some very exciting things going on this year, from promoting women in freelancing to already planning the next National Freelancers Day (it happens in November but as we all know, you can never over plan – well, unless you plan so much you actually forget to do it, but that’s a debate for another day). This usually means updating areas of the campaign that have been discussed or coming up with new ideas – the moment you get that million-dollar brain wave is the best, right?

3:30pm: After this, I normally pitch various stories to business magazines, such as letting them know about new statistics on freelancing from our latest research. I’m always on the lookout for new magazines or other media outlets to speak to, so if you’ve got a favourite business title, let me know!

4:30pm: Nearly finished, so I wrap up emails and update my manager on what I’ve been doing.

5:15: The day is done. On a Friday, the whole office goes for a cheeky glass (or two) of vino in Westminster as a reward after a busy week.

Rosie Libell, communications assistant at the freelance association PCG