It’s 7 am. I’m on my first cup of coffee and I open the laptop.

The first email, from Help A Reporter Out (HARO) , pops up on my screen. The last inquiry, number 20, is perfect for me. It directly relates to my public information duties at my day job. The inquiry is from a freelance writer requesting information on state parks with low overnight camping fees. The story is about low-budget travel ideas for the summer of 2009.

I do some background research and craft a pitch for Nevada’s parks. The pitch is out at exactly 7:22 a.m., with the potential to reach some 200,000 direct email subscribers should the freelancer pick up on the information.

I check my phone messages. A reporter from eastern Nevada has called for the second time this week. He’s seeking clarification on a scientifically and legally complex water rights ruling affecting his area. Since I’m also the PIO for Nevada’s State Engineer, I help where I can and show him how to find the needed information.

By 9 a.m. I have gone through my work and personal email, cleaned out both inboxes and my day is just starting.

It’s also my day off.

I’m technically scheduled to work four 10-hour days an hour’s drive from my home, which was negotiated as part of my job acceptance.

The work week never works out that way. The nature of my position is that I’m nearly always on call and I frequently update Web sites, respond to emails and send ‘heads-up’ messages to those who need them as news arises, whether at 7 a.m. or at 9:30 p.m.

Likewise, reporters on deadline don’t care if I’m on vacation, like when I was on the beaches of Oregon for the second time this summer working by phone and laptop – while taking annual leave from work.

I don’t take comp time and I don’t ignore work when I’m not “working.” The point is that I am fairly productive. In addition to my day job, here is some of what I do:

1. Play drums in one band plus two others as schedules allow
2. Play on an amateur league paintball team (I played one out-of-state tournament in ’08)
3. Write two separate blogs (one – this one – regularly, the other sporadically)
4. Run a public relations firm part time, managing a virtual team consisting of two designers, a coder, one content manager, one writer/editor, one public relations specialist and a virtual assistant
5. Attend school full time, scheduled to attain my doctorate in 2010 (two chapters of my dissertation have been drafted)

As I write this over the weekend, I’m also preparing for my last final for the semester. I’m not stressed. Admittedly, I received an extension from my instructor to turn in overdue homework late, but I will have it done and will finish the semester on Wednesday. Yes, some things take a backseat when others have priority. Some clients wait longer than they might with other firms (and are forewarned of this before I accept work from them), I skipped out on countless paintball practices this year and one band has floundered as we near year’s end (no fault of my own).

Still, I think I do more than the average person and I still have time for family, friends and fun. I like the amount of what I do, especially the diversity of it, and it is because of this diversity that I can get so much accomplished usually with tangible results.

I’m curious to hear what others think, as well as other suggestions you may have for being productive especially in an age when work can be done remotely, often with better results than sitting at a desk for eight hours a day. Comments are welcome below, and here are some of my tips for getting things done for today’s PR professional:

1. Be available to reporters, even after hours and on weekends
2. Ensure online site content can be updated remotely and at any time
3. Process urgent emails and phone calls immediately
4. Batch process non-urgent emails and phone messages once a day
5. Don’t force creativity or productivity – take breaks and/or surf the Internet for ideas
6. Seize creative opportunities regardless of the time of day or where you are (I have mapped out research ideas and PR plans on scrap paper in all sorts of sundry places)
7. Manage your regularly visited news sites and blogs with an online bookmarking site (delicious or Diigo)
8. Mange your other regularly visited sites with an RSS feed (I use Google Reader and view it through iGoogle)

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