A day with Tami (Unicorn Workspaces)

June 12, 2023

A bit about Tami: in August, 2019, Tami became a part of our Unicorn family. Tami and her team take care of all the inquiries regarding our Unicorn offices. So if you’re looking for an office, you’ll probably receive an offer from Tami or meet her while taking a tour in one of our workspaces.

It’s 8 a.m. Are you already wide awake, or still in a deep sleep?

I wish I was the type of person who sets aside an extra hour for their morning routine, having a coffee in peace and afterwards doing a yoga session. Unfortunately, I’m exactly the opposite – I’m pretty grumpy in the morning. It’s my alarm clock that reliably pulls me out of a deep sleep. After I roll out of bed, I’ll have a Guayusa tea and listen to the news on Deutschlandfunk. If I don’t have to be somewhere for an appointment, I’ll be at my laptop by 9 at the latest, perhaps still yawning a bit.

It’s 10 a.m. and you’re in the middle of a productive phase. What’s essential for you to be productive?

I use a digital calendar for keeping track of my appointments – I couldn’t do without it. I think the digital calendar’s a great tool, especially when you want to have a glance at both work-related and private appointments. When I want to get an overview of my to-dos, then I’m more of a pen and paper person. Especially when there’s a lot going on in my mind, I need to write down my thoughts and tasks. By doing that I free up some space in my brain and can sort out my thoughts. Besides, is there a better feeling of satisfaction than grabbing a pencil and physically crossing out a task (even two or three times, with relish) which you’ve completed on your list? When I need to concentrate on my work, I put on my noise-cancelling headphones and some loud music, turn off my Slack message alerts and get down to business.

It’s 1 p.m. and your stomach is growling. What do you do? Have a muesli bar and go out for a jog? Go over the latest analytics with business partners? Are you rather a stay-in-at-the-office type, or do you need to get out and get some fresh air?

Since I usually skip breakfast, my stomach is growling – pretty loudly- by 1 pm. So lunchtime is really important for me. If I’m at the office, then I love to spend my lunch break with my colleagues. I really look forward to Thursdays, which is our HQ Day. Almost all of the staff are in on that day, and we’ll order lunch together, or go out to eat, or take a walk to the nearest supermarket. Our HQ at Unicorn Kleiststr. is right next to Wittenbergplatz, which has a great selection of lunch spots in the area. My personal recommendation would be burritos for lunch at Dolores!

It’s 5 p.m., and you’ve answered the last emails for the day. Have any baffling inquiries or customer requests ever shown up in your mailbox?

Oh, where should I begin? Time and again there are requests from customers or prospective customers where I have to chuckle a little, things like: removing walls (or building new ones), installing a kitchen, putting carpeting or wooden flooring into an office… and oh yeah, a pool would be nice to have, too.

It’s 6 p.m., is the workday coming to an end or just getting started?

If there’s nothing else that has to be done right away, I can shut down my laptop between 5 and 6 pm. Then I like to spend time with my family and friends. After a long day at my desk, I look forward to doing some sports. However, if there’s still a lot to do, then I like to work past 6 pm, because everyone else has finished for the day. I always have the feeling that a kind of “peaceful tranquility” arrives, and I can work without being disturbed.

It’s 10 p.m. and you finally have time for yourself! Are you a series addict? A music lover, bookworm or binging podcast listener?

When I’m out and about, I’m practically always listening to a podcast. Recently, I’ve been listening to “Das Politikteil”, which is about current political events, ZEIT’s true crime series “Verbrechen” or the interesting history series “Geschichten aus der Geschichte”. I’m a big foodie, so I like eating out and trying new restaurants. I’m not that passionate about cooking, but I like to bake (the last thing I baked were cinnamon buns). At home I also enjoy a good book. Most recently, I read a book which my colleague Chiara had recommended: “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett (highly recommended!). I’ve also started playing darts again and was cheering on Gabriel Clemens (aka The German Giant) during the recent World Darts Championship. And if anyone’s looking for a good film or series, I can really recommend Glass Onion and House of the Dragon – I’ve watched both and they were really great!