Do you ever scroll social media and suddenly find you are beating yourself up because your life does not look like that of other people in your field?
I know this is so common in an era where we appear to have access to every detail of someone's life, and I am definitely guilty of comparisonitis, so I thought I would give you a little insight in a typical weekday in my life, in the hope that it helps one person realise that, "normal", is far from perfect.
07:00 My alarm goes off and me and my 6 year old crawl out of bed. I set him up with breakfast, make a brew and head back up to shower.
07:30 On a good day, I can shower and dress before little one wakes. We then head down stairs and start the morning snacking (my youngest has autism, so breakfast is not always a sit down event and definitely not straight after waking).
07:30-08:15 The morning challenge of packing two bags, dressing two children and heading out the door for two separate school drop-offs.
09:00 Back home for me. Breakfast, coffee and make a plan for the morning. My brain loves a side quest and if it is not blocked in, it is not happening.
09:30 Work begins. Painting, emails, social media posts. All interspersed with a little housework and on certain days, a 30minute spin session in my garage.
12:50 Head back out for 13:00 pick up for little man (he is on a phased start at school and currently on half days).
13:15 Settle him with an activity (or sofa cuddles if he has had a hard morning). Lunch for me.
13:30-15:00 Messages, emails, and/or any social media posts that I can slot in between his needs; alongside constant snack delivery, Duplo building and snuggles.
15:00 Second school pick up.
16:00 Home, more snack provision and a home workout if I have not already done it.
17:00 Start making dinner for the boys. Catch up on missed admin (e.g. write a blog post) and maybe some painting before bath time.
19:00-20:30 Bath time and bedtime for the boys.
20:30 Tea time for me and the husband, while we catch up on our days and whatever series we are engrossed in.
22:00 Reading and bed.
As a mum of two young boys, with a shift-working husband and no village of childcare around us, life can be wonderfully unpredictable.
There are appointments that appear out of nowhere, plans that change and days that don’t go quite how I imagined. But honestly? I wouldn’t change what I’m building.
Would I love a full team, financial backing, my own studio and uninterrupted time to work? Of course.
But I also know that this is the season of life I’m in, and I’m learning to build a business around it rather than waiting for the perfect circumstances to arrive.
Is it always easy? No.
Am I going to quit because it’s hard? Absolutely not.
Because your life doesn’t have to look like the perfectly curated version you see on Instagram for you to be exactly where you’re meant to be.
Maybe this is what building something looks like for me right now. A little messy, occasionally interrupted, sometimes slow, but completely mine.
And actually, I think there’s something pretty special about that.