Molly John, Co-owner and vice president, M.J. Design Associates

Since her children are older now, Molly John doesn’t have as many activities in the evening pulling her from her desk anymore.

“I suppose that’s a good and bad thing, as I don’t have something that forces me to leave the office,” says the co-owner and vice president of M.J. Design Associates in Columbus. “I like to be around at the end of the day a couple days a week to just see crews when they come in and talk with the guys.”

She uses the ride home to touch base with family. “I often call my parents or one of my sisters,” she says. “It is a good time to catch up with them.” Here’s John’s average day.

Three days a week I work out before work. I either go to Orange Theory Fitness or our Community Rec Center for fitness classes at either 5 or 6:15 am. I find it is a great way to start the day and I get my workout in. I sweat too much to do mid-day, otherwise I will be showering a couple times.

If I have worked out I will grab a smoothie on my way to the office. The other days I will bring in some fruit, toast, yogurt or something from home and eat it at the office. I am fortunate to have just a 12-minute commute to the office. I love sports, so usually listening to a sports talk radio show.

I arrive by 6:30 or 7 a.m. I like to get in early before others when it is quiet and have time to organize myself for the day. I will review my to-do list from the night before, adjust as needed, check email to make sure nothing new has come in overnight. At least three days a week, I like to be out in the shop when the crews are starting up, saying hi and talking with the staff.

Like many, I am definitely more productive in the morning. I have a few weekly meetings with different staff members on Monday and Tuesday. I do my best to hit the higher priority items in the morning when I am more focused. I try to schedule client meetings for the afternoon when I find office time to be less productive.

When I am working in the field on seasonal enhancements, I will stop with my team to eat. If I am working in the office or out and about, I will just eat at my desk or when driving. If I have some personal things to get done, I just utilize that time during lunch.

By late morning to early afternoon, I like to get out of the office – reset my mind from the morning tasks and get fresh air. I might pop out to see crew, meet with a client or just run some errands. It gives me an opportunity to see what is going on in the field. Then when I return to the office, I will get back to some of the simpler tasks that I need to complete to end the day.

I average one to two meetings three days a week. We have a full company meeting every Monday morning to get the week started. I then have a sales meeting and financial meeting Monday morning and an office meeting Tuesday. We have introduced an agenda for these meetings in order to keep us on task and hopefully shorter. We end the week on Friday with an early morning production meeting, assuring we are set for the next couple of weeks. I am not always needed at the production meeting, but I like to sit in from time to time to know how everything is going.

We have always been good about having dinner as a family, no matter what hour that turns out to be. We cook, but it is not a passion for us. So, often dinner may be take-out. The general rule is no phones at the table, and we all stick to that most times. However, I am not good at turning it off otherwise. My husband if very good at shutting it off. I will check emails and incoming messages throughout any off time.

The wind down at night usually begins about 8 p.m. We put a screen porch onto our house last year and we spent almost every night out there relaxing and watching TV. Depending on the day, I might sit down and love to fall asleep on the couch. I usually head to bed between 10 and 10:30 p.m.

During the season I will often work Saturday mornings. I find it to be very relaxing and quiet in the office. Saturdays are a great day to just catch up, reorganize and get myself ready for the next week. It allows me to enjoy the rest of the weekend.