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Monday

The week kicks off with our regular breakfast meeting, today hosted by our head of insight. An engaging brainstorm that sharpens our minds and reminds our sales floor that the next few weeks will see the start of winter ski season activity, Christmas breaks and festive shopping, and, of course, the winter sun market.

The planes carrying our magazines will again be packed with leisure and business travellers.

Following that – a disaster with a Starbucks mug. The damn handle comes off, showering my trousers with hot coffee. It's not the best start to the week, although I'm glad to give so many in the office a giggle.

Exciting news this morning as one of our carriers, Brussels Airlines, announces a return to long haul with flights into New York in the New Year, presenting an exciting commercial opportunity for our London and New York-based teams.

The excitement continues as we launch our new 2012 Olympics sales plan, sharing with clients and ad agencies the strength of our 2012 audience for next summer's games.

Over 55% of all UK visitor arrivals during the games will be reading our magazines on board our planes and trains (based on passenger arrival figures for airlines carrying our titles against Visit Britain arrival numbers) – another exceptional opportunity to get advertisers in front of those travelling to the games.

Lunch is with Paul Maraviglia, VP sales, EMEA at CNBC. We discuss the magazine we publish on their behalf, CNBC Business, and ways in which we can work closer together in 2012.

A positive day wraps up with good revenue numbers across the floor and an improved forecast from the publishing team for the first quarter 2012. I head off to Manchester for a packed day tomorrow.

Tuesday

Having arrived in a typically wet Manchester last night and enjoyed a good night's sleep at the Malmaison, I am collected early and taken to Clacksons' new offices.

There I meet MD Adrian Worsley and his regional sales team. We recently signed a new contract, and today I'm presenting our regional, national and international titles that they will now represent in the North and Midlands.

Heading back home on the London-bound train, I review our lengthy meeting. I am impressed with the Clacksons team – bags of experience, a real willingness to learn and a desire to challenge conventional media schedules in the regions on our behalf.

I proceed to annoy the passenger in seat 36b coach C by spending the entire journey talking and tapping away on my Blackberry and iPad – if you are reading this, my apologies once more.

Get a wonderful email while on the move from one of our clients, AKA, inviting me to attend the show 'Crazy for You' tomorrow evening. Sadly, a trip to the Netherlands dictates otherwise, and as a result, our wonderful office manager Albert is the lucky beneficiary. (He loved the show).

Wednesday

Another early start and a mad dash across town from Kent to Heathrow for my flight to Amsterdam with KLM to meet their head of retail.

My plans and timings are always a little tight, but the delays and difficulties of this particular journey really mess up the schedule big time.

To explain, I had reserved a pair of Bose QC15 noise reduction headphones at Dixons Travel. Bose is a strong supporter of our inflight titles and after seeing the ads for their new headphones, I took the plunge. Who said advertising doesn't work?

So, I sit at gate 15 waiting for a flight I have taken so many times before, but this time – thanks to my new headphones – the noise and bustle around me disappear. I am in a world of my own listening to Adele, and miss the announcement of a gate change.

So far removed am I from the noise around that I almost miss my flight. By chance, I take off my headphones to see why no one else is still seated in the departure gate seating area. They have all boarded. Another mad rush to board with my bags and headphones hanging round my neck, and we proceed on to Amsterdam.

Am greeted with yet more delays due to severe winds at Schiphol.

Thankfully, I make the meeting, although am an hour late. Client happy, I head back to the airport, make the flight home – just – and spend 35 minutes circling Heathrow. Someone has to sort out this runway issue!

As ever when I fly, I take some time to observe how the passengers on board are spending their time. The flight is full and it always gives me a kick to see so many engaged in the inflight magazine – one that we publish. I have been known to make something of a nuisance of myself to those that sit next to me that don't (thankfully, there aren't too many of these).

Journey over and I'm back home, regaling my family with tales of today's travel woes.

Thursday

Awful commute thwarting my plan to catch the earlier train and beat the office crowd. The train rolls in with half its normal number of carriages. People are falling out of the carriage as the doors open, so I decide to pass.

Half an hour of waiting on the platform and I get in at my usual time. Thank you South Eastern trains.

I start the day with a floor meeting with our London sales team, a 50-strong force of talent that are used to celebrating records of one sort or another.

Judging by our forward-booked business, we are in line for many more. Floor meeting finished, it's straight into a series of meetings with department heads and publishers to address current and future issues.

Finally, I get back to my desk and attack my daily to-do list, then try and cut through the bank of fresh emails that have arrived this morning from our staff, clients, and our external rep network across the globe.

Next up is a co-publishers' meeting with our COO for CNBC Business, to address forthcoming issues and our plans for 2012 (in relation to my lunch with Paul Maraviglia).

I attend a creative strategy meeting surrounding the 2012 games with the head of our creative solutions team. We run through various options for major brands like Canon, Panasonic and Westfield, which we will be taking to market over the coming weeks.

I can't put off tackling my burgeoning voice mailbox any longer. Once done, it's off to catch my train, where, thankful for a seat, I fire up the trusty iPad.

Friday

I start the morning with a decent espresso – as I do every Friday. I know it's the last day of another week when I do.

Breakfast is at the Albion, Shoreditch, with Steve O'Connor, who heads up our non-print interests for Ink, Tad (our boarding pass products) and ARC (Airline Retail Conference). Steve has a plan (when doesn't he?), but this time it's one that grabs my interest – that's why I am picking up the tab.

Breakfast over, it's back to the desk and I begin to draft one of several proposals needed in response to briefs from clients and ad agencies that have landed in my inbox. Several are for the short term, the winter months, but most are for long-term 2012 campaigns.

This afternoon's bookings from Samsung, Starcom in the Netherlands and ZenithOptimedia in Paris arrive into our office. It looks like being a good Friday.

After a deskbound lunch, I get a chance to call some of my clients and agents to discuss next week and the month ahead. Pressure is mounting as interest in the prime spots in our core titles over the Olympic months hots up.

Again, all conversations this afternoon finish with a request for haste. We only have so many covers available – the message can't be any clearer.

Later, I join a meeting with our client 18-30, from the Thomas Cook group, where we discuss plans for a new product launch for 2012.

Nobody seems to be bothered that I fall just outside the age range, I think I got away with it.

I close the day with a little time to myself and put the finishing touches to a proposal for PHD in Warsaw, where we are looking to work together with them and one of their major clients (a major sponsor of the European Football championships with our airline partner Wizz and its inflight magazine).

Wizz will be the dominant carrier to the games, serving several bases in Poland and the Ukraine where games are being played, so we need to act now to secure the best spots.

Heading home I can't help but wonder how on earth we are going to top 2012 – the Queen's Jubilee, the Olympic Games in London and the European Championships in Poland – we are going to have a stormer.

I'd better put my order in for several cases of bubbly – I think we are going to need it.