Mornings aren’t for everybody. But in addition to mornings, Alice Forsythe has a special admiration for Mondays and the first day of the month.
“I feel like there’s a lot of opportunity on those days because they are a blank slate,” she says. “You have everything in front of you; do what you want with it.”
Alice, the senior program manager of Reach the World, an educational nonprofit that connects classrooms in schools to college students all around the world, is always on the go.
We chatted with Fulton Center member Alice Forsythe for this edition of First Hour. Below, Alice shares how she spends the early hours of her day.
WeWork Magazine: Are you a morning person?
Alice Forsythe: I totally am! I know what it’s like to come into the office before the coffee is made and the lights are even on.
WWM: What time do you normally wake up?
AF: I wake up at 6 or 7. If it’s my morning to walk the dog and make coffee, then 7. If it’s my morning to get up and run, then 6. I run three to four days a week.
WWM: Why do you think morning is your most productive time?
AF: I get a fresh start, and it’s when I have a lot of mental clarity. I know that what I accomplish in the morning can really impact the way the rest of the day, week, or month goes.
WWM: What are your first thoughts when you wake up?
AF: I run through my agenda for the day to see what I have ahead of me. Often, I start my day at a school, conference or career fair, so I don’t always start at the office. I need to make sure that I’m getting on the right subway at the right time to arrive where I need to be.
WWM: What gets you up in the morning?
AF: I like knowing that everything I’m going to work on that day will really have an impact on reaching our overall mission. We are a small staff, and yet we work with a large group of students across the city. Everything I do to coach our teams in the field will ultimately have a direct impact on the students we work with and put us closer to achieving our mission and goals. Nonprofit work asks a lot of you and the satisfaction or inspiration isn’t driven by a dollar, profit, or bottom line. It’s driven by working toward a mission you wholeheartedly believe in. Each morning I remember our mission and begin with whatever the day has in store!
WWM: Describe your morning routine.
AF: On a morning where I don’t run, I’ll get up and the first thing I do is feed the dog, and take him out. We go for a walk in Central Park where he gets to run around, and it’s really fun. Then, I drink two cups of coffee as I get ready and pack my lunch. I also save 10 minutes for myself to eat breakfast, and then I’m out the door.
WWM: What do you do on your morning commute?
AF: On the subway, I read The New Yorker because it makes my train rides feel very fast. We work in Title I school systems, and the neighborhoods we travel to aren’t always the safest. So having something as simple as a magazine out and reading it feels a lot safer to me than a piece of technology.
WWM: What’s the first thing you do when you arrive at your office?
AF: I usually set a task list so that I know what I need to accomplish before lunch. If I know I’m going to be skirting around the city, it’s important that I get things completed before doing so. I also go through my email for 10 to 15 minutes and then log out to work on my bigger projects for the day. I find it can be very distracting if I always have an email window open because I can never really focus on the things I have to do.
WWM: What does your ideal day look like?
AF: I like having at least part of my day where I’m interacting with other people. I am a program manager, so I do a lot of one-on-one communication. I don’t like to spend the day hiding behind the computer; I find that it really drains me. I’d like to spend a couple hours a day coaching teachers or working with students and interns. As long as I’m interacting with people throughout the day, I’m happy.
Photographs by Lauren Kallen