I have been meaning to get a post like this together for ages. It's taken forever because the act of "documenting my days" leaves less time to actually "do the work" of my days.
There is a huge difference between our daycare days (currently T/Th) and my mama days (currently MWF). This is what a "normal" Tuesday work day (yesterday) looks like for me. I've tried to work in some of my "secrets to success" as well (though the real secret is to stay off social media). Later this month I'd love to share a "normal" mama day looks like for me too.
For the most part, I wake up between 6 and 7 with Ellerie these days. Today, I woke up at 7am and she was still asleep (due to the fact that she was awake at 4:50am and Paul got her back to bed). I was able to have some breakfast, scroll Instagram, read the four blogs in my reader that still post and wake up.
She started making noise around 7:30 (again, I cannot stress enough how un-normal this late start was) and when I went in she was already asking for "BOOK?" We diaper changed and grabbed a book and headed out to the kitchen where I drank coffee and she sort of picked at her breakfast of pancake, sausage (both reheated from the weekend) and half a banana.
Sidenote confession : thinking about, prepping, and worrying about toddler food is my least favorite part of parenthood. GIVE ME ALL THE OTHER PARTS (including 4am wake-ups) and take the food back please. I realize it's all a stage and this is a phase, but man, the feeding part stresses me out. What she will and won't eat, how much she will and won't eat, how bizarre it as that just yesterday she could not get enough of something she now despises...it drives me up a wall.
After she eats a few bites we read a few books, watch a bit of Daniel Tiger and read a few more books. In the middle, I'm prepping the house for the robot vacuum which means clearing the floor and moving the furniture. In a perfect world, the robot would clean all the floors every Tuesday and Thursday but only about one out of every four days do I prep the house well enough that it doesn't just get stuck on a toy and beep at me for three hours. (This is pretty much the only good cleaning our house gets on a weekly basis, so I should be better at it.)
Around 8:10 I get Ellerie dressed and we fold her laundry. Then (hooray!) she eats more banana before we load up the car and head to daycare. It takes less than 10 minutes to get there, drop-off goes well and I'm back home at 8:40.
My work days are WORK DAYS. I work. I don't do chores, I don't run errands, I don't schedule doctors appointments or get the car fixed. It's like going to a "real job" two days a week and I try to treat it as such.
The first thing I do is deal with email. I no longer read email on my phone so my inbox hasn't been touched since around 7pm the night before when Paul was putting Ellerie to sleep. I recently realized that I should only "check email" when I am in the mood to make decisions. Email, if you actually want to get through it, is not about "checking." Instead, it's about making decisions. Tiny decisions and huge decisions. Emails that need a response usually are asking a question and so I want to be in the mood to answer questions. I've found it helps to just knock them out one at a time during a few longer chunks of time each day.
I've talked about this, but I say "No" a lot. Saying "No" is the only reason I am able to stay sane and keep this ship afloat. No regrets, no hard feelings, no guilt, just a realistic understanding that there are only 24 hours in the day and the ones that belong to me without additional commitments are precious.
Email takes me about 20 minutes. I love how gmail sets it up. I have real emails from humans in the front tab, then mass emails (which get a quick skim, possible read and then deleted) and then emails from robots (mostly sales, paypal notifications, electric bills, shipping notifications and notices that my library books are due) on the right tab. Those emails need to be read and processed, but never need a response.
After email I take a look at my list (which is currently just print outs of the GTWB pages that I've adapted - I too, am anxiously waiting for July). I have three blog posts that I'd love to get written today. This one, the DITL that will go live on Wednesday, Ellerie's film photos from March (which will go live Thursday) and then a post about collaborating on GTWB that will go up next week. The Ellerie film post is the easiest so I start there.
I have a podcast call scheduled at 10am and so I make sure to eat something before that. I am like a hobbit (with low blood sugar) and I eat six small meals every day. Today it's ham and cheese on sourdough. While I eat (at my desk) I post a photo to both the @gettoworkbook and @elisejoy accounts. I don't take time to scroll and see what other folks are up to.
While I wait for the podcast I get started on this blog post.
I'm chatting today at 10 am with Jessica Turner who wrote The Fringe Hours for a podcast episode that will go live later this month. Jessica is a pro, she's done a bunch of podcasts already, so the interview is quick and easy. It will take no editing which is my absolute fave. We wrap up the call around 10:45, I turn the robot vacuum back on and I get back to writing this blog post.
It's currently 10:57am and I'm "caught up" for the day... so I check email. (Nothing exciting, obviously.) So I pack a few orders that need to go out, check the real mail and deposit a check. I check IG - to answer questions - not scroll the feed.
My GTWB sticker proof came back. These small circles will be used to fancy up the bubble wrap that protects the books in their cardboard packaging. Getting all the packaging materials secured is on my list for this week.
It's 11:15 and I have to regroup and focus on getting my collaboration post written. This is just the first pass, basically a brain dump of text and it takes exactly 25 minutes to write 930 words. Afterwards, probably after lunch, I'll go through, link and add graphics/photos. On Thursday, I'll read through again and edit for clarity.
It's 11:40, I check email again and magically, not a single person has sent me something. Virtual high-fives, Internet! I grab my phone and go to have lunch - which today is veggie sushi I picked up from the grocery store yesterday afternoon. I try to read a bit during lunch but can't focus today...I'm thinking about this post.
I re-gram a photo from @thecraftedlife who shared my GTWB business card on the GTWB feed. One of the reasons why I created a separate account for the book is to do things like this; I want to be able to share how people are using GTWB in their own lives. I love the idea of a feed full of various handwriting, careers, projects, lists and inspiration. My @elisejoy account will always be a mix of personal photos, Ellerie, plants, food and work. But the planner feed will focus exclusively and un-apologetically on the planner.
It's 12:08 pm and I am going to get back to work pulling photos for the GTWB collaboration post.
It's 1:22 pm and I'm cross-eyed. But the collaboration post is done. You'll see that next week! My eyes need a break in a big way so I'm going to hop in the shower before my next podcast call at 2pm.
I have a few minutes at my desk to read through Allie and Claire's Charge Up Introverts which is what my afternoon podcast is about. Then I'm grabbing water and tidying up my desk before we start.
Annnnd, that was quick and easy. I never schedule two podcasts a day, but I think I might start. It's nice to be in the zone and it will be nice to not have to worry about recording much the next few weeks.
Again, because I'm a hobbit, another quick snack break. Greek yogurt and strawberries at my desk while I write the podcast shownotes and edit those two shows. They are super good ones ... no major edits aside from music adding. Usually I pull quotes for IG during the show but missed it this time so I'm listening while I edit photos for this post. I'll write the quotes and snap a photo with my phone so the Wednesday the episode is live (and I'm on Mama duty) I have that photo ready to roll for IG.
It's now 3:35 and I'm "done" for now. I'm going to walk up to the grocery store (it's a 15 minute walk) and figure out what dinner will be. This is my "big exercise" for the day and a very valuable re-charge. I listen to podcasts the whole time.
I'm home at about 4:10 (with stuff for fajitas for dinner). Paul texted at 4:05 that he's on his way to pick up Ellerie which gives me awhile to make adjustments and add links to this post, deal with email one final time for the day, wash the dishes that have accumulated in the sink and start dinner prep.
Ellerie and Paul get home at 5pm. I miss the moment they walk through the door on camera but catch it in real life. Dinner is mostly prepped so we finish and Ellerie snacks on cheese. If my child could survive on cheese alone, parenthood would be the easiest gig.
We eat, then do bath and read stories, play with blocks and put stuffed animals down for a nap on repeat for about an hour after dinner and then around 6:40, Paul starts the pre-bed reading, rocking, milk process and I go to the office to upload the week's podcast episode and finish up this post. Usually I try really hard to be "done" with work before P and E get home, but podcast nights are always a little off.
Paul will study until 8pm and then we'll watch an episode of Game of Thrones. We just started season 4 on Netflix discs. We will be in bed around 9:30 and I'll read until 10.
The end! ;)
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REMINDER : Today is the last day to get a free print with your GET TO WORK BOOK pre-order. A few of you wanted updates on sales! As of 7pm Tuesday I am at 21.6% of my 3 month sales goal. Progress for sure, but I've got a long way to go.
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Today on ELISE GETS CRAFTY I'm chatting with Amy Tan about her creative career path. It's pretty twisty with great lessons. Subscribe or stream here!
