I often get asked ‘How do you do it? How do you get up early everyday? How do you stay motivated? & How do you manage a work / life balance?. I know that I often look at other women and think exactly the same thing… ‘How does she do it?’

Well, let me just start by saying… I don’t have it all together, all of the time and I don’t have all the answers BUT I have figured out what works for me.
I’ll be honest, somedays I feel overwhelmed, somedays I waste time watching Instagram stories when I should be working. (We all do that, right?) Somedays, I feel like I’m mentally and emotionally in seven different places at the same time, and somedays I eat a large packet of chilli kettle chips instead of a meal because I’m busy and I’m tired and because they’re really nice!

Bottom line is, we all have days when we feel like Beyonce, a powerful bootylicious badasss, ready to run the world! Then, we have days when we just want to hide under the duvet, away from the internet, the kids and all of life’s responsibilities. So, I’m sharing this post to tell you the honest answer…

Motivation – When it comes to staying motivated, I’m pretty consistent. For me, it’s a lot easier to stay motivated when you have a clear goal and a plan / schedule to stick to. So, I create a detailed plan of action for each of my goals, whether that’s fitness, career, or personal. I constantly reassess these goals and I write them down in a journal every Sunday evening. This really helps me to start the week feeling focused and motivated.

Organisation – Without a doubt, organisation is my weakest link. I often claim that I am allergic to admin. I literally hate filling out forms, sending invoices etc. I’ve never been the kind of person that has everything planned out months in advance, I just don’t work like that. I have acknowledged it and I have accepted it. In some instances it can work to my advantage, I’m happy to do things without much notice and it doesn’t stress me out at all, but it’s definitely not a good thing when it comes to business. If you’re someone that needs a lot of structure, then make sure you have a system for organising your daily and weekly tasks, this should make your to-do list a little less overwhelming.
Over the last year, I’ve really got into using Google G drive and I set reminders on my Google calendar to help me keep up with everything. If I do mess something up or I’ve double booked myself,  I hold my hands up and apologise, I don’t make up an excuse. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.

Getting Up Early – This is one of my most frequently asked questions on Instagram dm, because I’m up before 6a everyday. ‘How do you get up so early?’ & ‘What time do you go to bed?’ Honestly, the early start is something that takes practice at first but once you get into a consistent morning routine, it really is life changing.
Some practical tips to help you get up early…

• Make sure your alarm clock or phone is far enough away from your bed that you have to physically get up to turn it off.
• Never hit snooze. It’s a mindset thing, when you hit snooze you’re telling yourself that you’re not ready to take on the day. Ironically, you’re gonna have less time to get ready when you do actually do get up.
• Listen to music in the morning, something upbeat to get you singing along. Music is proven to boost your mood, and you can’t argue with science.
• Go to bed earlier. It sounds so obvious but getting up early is always going to suck if you haven’t had enough sleep.

Work / Life balance – Now this is a tricky one for me. Does such a thing even exist when you run your own business? and you’re the co-founder of a start up? The line between work and life is very thin for me. Personally, I don’t have a problem with that but I do feel a pressure from other people.
I love my work and often that means that I would rather work on a new project in the evening than watch Netflix, and it means that I spend long plane journeys on my laptop editing video’s when I used to read Grazia. I don’t know if I have a ‘healthy’ work / life balance at the moment, but how can you measure it? To be honest, I don’t enjoy my time off if I know in the back of my mind, that I still have loads of work to do, I’d rather just be doing the work.
So, my advise for this is to just do what works for you and not to feel guilty about loving your work. I’ve stopped trying to adhere to other peoples expectations.
One thing that really helps though, is that when I’m off, I am 100% off. I leave my phone on silent in my bag to avoid distractions and to engage complete in what I’m doing.
When work is crazy busy, I do have days when I battle with ‘mum guilt’. I know that a lot of mums feel this, whether they are working a long shift in a hospital, traveling to attend a conference or working upstairs in their spare room. I see our family as a team, both Rob and I are working to pursue our passion and to earn a living at the same time. Of course I miss Jude if I am travelling or working late but like all parents, I am doing my best. Plus, I remind myself that I am showing Jude that if you want to achieve something, you may just have to work your ass off to get it.
I believe that life has seasons, if your work / life balance isn’t sustainable long term, maybe it’s just a season right now, you need to get your head down and work like crazy to build the foundations. The next season will come.

Admittedly, I do have a lot of energy and I’ve always been very ambitious, the combination of the two definitely helps me to keep going. I don’t allow myself to make excuses because I believe that if you really want to do something, you will find a way to make it work.
On those days when I feel overwhelmed , I allow myself to take a break. Running is a great escape for me as it gives me time to clear my mind and shake off that funk.
If one bad day then turns into two or three, I have to stop and ask myself ‘Why?’ If you’re feeling burnt out, then it’s important to figure out why and to make some changes to your routine. Then most importantly, I ask myself the question ‘Will it be worth it?‘ and the answer is always YES!

Lastly, I know that I couldn’t do half of it, without my amazing tribe. We all need people around us to cheer us on, help us out and to tell us when our latest idea is totally rubbish! Surround yourself with people who get it, and make sure they know how grateful you are.

If we’re not connected on social, you can find me @adrienne_ldn