There’s a version of working in marketing that looks very polished from the outside. It’s very much like marketing itself; the glitzy, best aspects of the role, the fun events and perks. Fast-moving, creative, always something happening. And while that’s true, what makes it actually work day to day tends to be much simpler and much less sexy than people expect. It’s not a long list of tools or a perfectly optimized routine. It’s a handful of things that I come back to consistently because they make everything else easier to manage.

Not necessarily more productive in the traditional sense, but more clear, more focused, and a little more balanced in a role that isn’t always predictable. Below is a peek into a pretty crazy week in the life working in hopsitality marketing.

A Few Things I Actually Rely On

I don’t look at my phone for the first hour of my day

This has been a challenge for me, as a lot of my day-to-day responsibilities in work sit in the digital world. However, waking up and immediately being hit in the face with venue schedules, questions for the day, follow-ups from yesterday, or the to-do list ahead sets the tone for chaos - for me personally. Y’all know I’m a big proponent of the morning routine, and it has been essential for me to start each day level-headed, calm, and focused.

A notebook I use every day
I’ve tried to digitize this more than once, but I always come back to writing things down. Not everything needs to be captured, just what matters. Priorities for the day, notes from meetings, ideas that would otherwise get lost. Being organized in my thoughts, to do list, quick notes, and schedule is something that has, for me, usually had a tie to paper and physically writing them down. My calendar lives digitally as I gave up on physical planners years ago, but there is another lesson there. Know how you work and lean into what feels right.

Uniform dressing
This has made more of a difference than I expected it to. Getting dressed without having to figure it out every morning removes a layer of decision-making that I didn’t realize was adding up. It’s not about repetition; it’s about starting from something that already works. (I shared more on this in a previous post.) I also have been using Rent the Runway for years and love how it helps me plan outfits, provide staples that inform uniform dressing and helps me keep a strong edit on my my own closet.

Project Management Tools
I was introduced to project management tools early in my career in Chicago, and it was one of the first things that meaningfully changed how I worked day to day. I’m an advocate for Asana, which is what my team utilizes. In a field that can be open-ended, fast-paced, and highly creative, having a system creates structure where there otherwise wouldn’t be any.

It’s less about organization for the sake of it, and more about creating clarity. Process-oriented thinking allows us to move quickly without losing direction, and gives balance to work that can easily become reactive.

Using AI as a thinking partner
Not to replace the work, but to support it. Whether it’s organizing ideas, pressure-testing a concept, or getting out of a creative block, it’s become something I use daily. The value isn’t in having it think for you, it’s in helping you think more clearly.

Refinement has been a consistent theme for me lately, and AI has played a large role in that. From early-stage brainstorming to tightening copy, analyzing data, researching audiences, and building out campaign directions, it’s become a tool that allows me to move faster without sacrificing depth.

It’s still somewhat controversial, but there’s a lot of value in expanding your own thinking while allowing something else to handle the legwork. I’ve saved hours of time researching, become more informed within minutes, and challenged my own perspective in ways I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Books I actually reference
Not just reading for the sake of it, but returning to ideas that shape how I approach my work. The kind of books that influence taste, decision-making, and how you see things, not just tactics. In this post, I outline my favorite marketing books and highly recommend any of them. They’re the books that contain concepts I keep returning to, share with my team, and consistently use in the office.

What I Pay Attention To & CONSUME

One thing that’s made a bigger difference than I expected is how much I’m actually consuming the space I work in.

Not in an overwhelming way, but consistently enough that I’m aware of what’s happening, what’s working, and where things are going. That means paying attention across different channels, not just the ones I naturally gravitate toward. Social, brand campaigns, hospitality trends, music, culture, and even how people are interacting with spaces and experiences in real time. It’s less about keeping up and more about building context.

The more you see, the easier it is to recognize patterns. What feels fresh, what feels overdone, what actually resonates with people versus what just looks good on the surface. Over time, that starts to shape your instincts in a way that makes decisions feel more immediate and less forced. Especially in a role where things move quickly, that kind of awareness matters more than having the perfect answer.

Just as important as what I consume is what I don’t. Editing out content, noise, and inputs that don’t serve me has made a noticeable difference. I’m selective about what I follow, what I spend time on, and what I allow into my space. Protecting that, especially mentally, allows me to stay focused and operate at a level that feels consistent.

What Matters More Than Any Tool

All of this helps, but none of it replaces how you show up. If anything, it just supports it. There are a few things that have made a bigger difference than anything I’ve added.

Knowing what deserves your full attention
Not everything does. The faster you can recognize what actually matters in a given moment, the easier it is to move through everything else without feeling pulled in too many directions.

Being clear in your decisions
Indecision tends to create more work than the wrong decision does. The more you trust your judgment, the less time you spend reworking things that were already close.

Letting consistency do more of the work
You don’t need to approach everything as if it’s new. The more you can rely on what already works, whether that’s how you get dressed, how you structure your day, or how you approach your work, the easier everything becomes.

There isn’t one thing that makes a role like this work. It’s a combination of small decisions, repeated often enough that they start to feel automatic. The tools help, but they’re not the point. They just make it easier to show up the way you need to.