Just got a new admin job?
You got the job.
Now what are you actually supposed to do?
Nobody hands you the office manual. So I made one.
A practical first-30-days system that shows you what to do, what to ask, what to say and what to keep track of when your boss is busy and everyone assumes you already know “the usual.”
Start tonight. Use one page tomorrow.
Maybe this sounds familiar…
“I start Monday and nobody has told me anything.”
“Everyone talks to me like I already know how this office works.”
“What do I even wear?”
“My boss is too busy to train me.”
“What if they ask me to take minutes?”
“What do I say when I don’t know the answer?”
That’s exactly what this is for.
You do not need to know everything on Day 1.
You just need to know what to do next.
No proper onboarding? Start here.
Your first 30 days, mapped out.
This is not a bundle you are supposed to sit down and read from beginning to end.
The 30-Day Plan gives you one page at a time. The other guides, scripts and checklists are there when the real office situations happen.
1
Get through Day 1 without guessing
Know what to bring, what to wear, how to introduce yourself and what to focus on first.
Includes
- Start Here
- The 30-Day Plan
- First Impression Kit
- Introduction Scripts
2
Figure out how this office actually works
Learn how your boss likes things handled, who really gets things done and how people prefer to communicate.
Includes
- The Boss Profile
- Who’s Who Map
3
Learn to run the desk
Build your own procedures, understand the calendar, handle calls and take useful meeting minutes.
Includes
- My Desk Manual
- Calendar & Daily Brief Kit
- Phone & Gatekeeping Scripts
- The Meeting Kit
4
Know what to say when things get awkward
Use practical wording for mistakes, difficult conversations, questions you cannot answer and first-month nerves.
Includes
- Conversations You Will Need
- When Your Mind Goes Blank
- Confidence at Work
Plus: 57 ready-to-send admin emails for the moments when you know what you need to say, but not how to write it.
By the end of your first month, you will have a system for the things nobody thinks to explain.
- Walk into Day 1 knowing what to bring and what to focus on.
- Introduce yourself without freezing or oversharing.
- Ask your boss the questions that reveal how they actually like to work.
- Know what to say when a caller says, “It’s urgent.”
- Take meeting minutes with a worked example beside you.
- Have the words ready for the moments your mind goes blank.
- Build a desk manual so you do not have to keep everything in your head.
- Walk into your 30-day review knowing what you have learned and set up.
Why I made this
Nobody ever handed me a manual.
For 26 years I supported senior leaders in four different countries. New country, new office, new boss, new rules. And every time, there were things nobody thought to explain.
So I learned to build my own system.
I learned to arrive prepared. To carry a notebook, a pen and something to eat. To ask how my boss preferred things handled before changing anything. To watch how the office worked before assuming I understood it.
Over time, I wrote down the questions, scripts, checklists and routines that made starting somewhere new much easier.
This is that system. The things I wish someone had handed me on my first day.
From one admin to another.
The author’s desk
26
Years at the desk
4
Countries
153
Pages in total
You are not meant to read 153 pages from beginning to end. The 30-Day Plan gives you one page at a time. The rest is there when you need it.
See inside before you buy
Real pages. Ready to use tonight.
Open them on your phone, tablet or laptop, or print the pages you want on your desk.
Be one of my first readers
Confident From Day 1 is brand new. When you finish your first week, write to me at userbosmama@gmail.com and tell me how Day 1 went. I read every message, and I would love to hear your story.
Everything inside
Every guide, in the order you’ll need it.
Stage 1
Get through Day 1 without guessing
Start Here
Read it tonight: a welcome letter, how to use everything in about ten minutes a day, and your 30-day tracker.
1. The 30-Day Plan
One page for every day from Day 0 to Day 30. Know what to focus on, what to notice, what to ask and what to do next.
2. First Impression Kit
A practical night-before and Day 1 checklist: what to wear, what to bring and how to walk in prepared.
3. Introduction Scripts
Five short introduction versions, plus simple answers for the personal questions people often ask in your first week.
Stage 2
Figure out how this office actually works
4. The Boss Profile
35 smart questions to choose from. Pick the 8 to 10 that matter most for your first conversation with your boss.
5. Who’s Who Map
Work out who really gets things done, who approves what and how each person prefers to be contacted.
Stage 3
Learn to run the desk
6. My Desk Manual
Build your own operating manual for the job, so you do not have to keep every process, name and detail in your head.
7. Calendar & Daily Brief Kit
Learn your boss’s calendar rules, track what matters and create a simple daily brief.
8. Phone & Gatekeeping Scripts
Word-for-word scripts for common calls, including urgent callers, unknown callers and times when your boss is unavailable.
9. The Meeting Kit
An agenda template, three styles of minutes, useful wording and a fully worked example, so you can see exactly what good minutes look like.
Stage 4
Know what to say when things get awkward
10. Conversations You Will Need
Practical first words for the conversations that make new admins hesitate, including mistakes, questions you can’t answer yet, clashing priorities and difficult moments.
11. Confidence at Work
Practical support for first-month nerves, mistakes and difficult days, with research-backed techniques, a quick-break guide and 30 printable reminder cards.
12. When Your Mind Goes Blank
30 response cards for the moments a new admin freezes, each with the words to say and what to do next. A few moments also appear in Conversations You Will Need; here they are short enough to keep on your phone.
Free bonus
The Admin Email Library
Never start from a blank email again.
57 ready-to-send emails for the moments every admin faces. Copy, personalize and send.
Peek inside: 2 of the 57 emails
16 · A gentle first reminder
Subject: Gentle reminder: [item]
Hi [Name],
Just a gentle reminder about [item], which we were expecting by [date]. Could you let me know when we can expect it?
Thank you,
[Name]
13 · Not now, but later
Subject: Re: [request]
Dear [Name],
Thank you for your message. [Boss’s name] is fully committed until [month], but would be glad to look at this again then. May I contact you in [month]?
Kind regards,
[Name]
- Scheduling
- Chasing and reminders
- Saying no politely
- Travel and logistics
- Meetings
- When something goes wrong
- Information requests
- Introductions
- Out of office
- Internal requests
Included free
18 pages, all new. None of these repeat the emails in your other guides.
Now imagine this
It’s Day 30.
You know your boss’s calendar rules instead of guessing what can move.
You have a desk manual instead of trying to remember every process.
You know where to look, or who to ask, instead of starting from zero every time.
You can take meeting minutes without wondering whether you are doing it completely wrong.
And at your 30-day review, you can show what you have learned, organized and set up instead of wondering what to say.
You will not know everything by Day 30.
But you will not feel like it is Day 1 anymore.
Everything you need for your first month.
The 30-Day Plan
+ practical workplace guides
+ scripts and checklists
+ the Admin Email Library
$27
one time
- No subscription
- Instant download
- Yours to keep
- Use on screen or print
Start tonight. Use one page tomorrow.
I hear these a lot…
“$27? What’s the catch?”
There isn’t one. $27 once, for everything, and it’s yours to keep. It’s not a subscription.
“I’ve already started my job.”
Perfect timing. Start from the day you’re on. If you haven’t had a proper sit-down with your boss yet, do Day 4 this week.
“My job title isn’t ‘admin assistant’.”
Admin assistant, secretary, office coordinator, receptionist, executive assistant: if your new job is admin work, your first month looks the same. So does this plan.
“I don’t have time.”
Each day page takes about ten minutes. You open today’s page, and the guides wait until the day asks for them.
“I’ve bought planners before and never used them.”
So don’t start everything. Start with tonight’s page, Day 0. It tells you exactly what to do next.
Questions I get asked a lot
What exactly do I get?
14 PDF files, 153 pages in total: Start Here, the 30-Day Plan, 11 practical guides and the bonus Admin Email Library. You download everything straight after checkout.
I’ve never worked in an office. Will I be lost?
No. That’s exactly who it’s for. Day 0 starts the night before your first day, and every page tells you what to do and what to say.
Can I use it on my phone, or print it?
Both. Open the files on your phone, tablet or laptop and use them straight away. On a tablet, you can write on the pages in any PDF app that lets you add notes or handwriting. And you can print any page you like, or all of them (the pages are A4; on US Letter paper, choose “Fit to page”).
Can I get a refund?
Because this is an instant digital download, all sales are final. That’s why you can see inside before you buy.
Does it work outside the US?
Yes. A few details, like the hiring documents on the First Day Bag Checklist, are written for US workplaces.
Can I share it with a friend?
It’s for your personal use. If a friend is starting a new job too, the best gift is her own copy.
You do not need to know everything before you start.
You just need a place to look when nobody has explained what comes next.
The office manual nobody handed you.
