A week in the life of running my design business
I don’t know about you but I absolutely love to peak behind the curtains of how people live their lives. What hacks they use, how the manage their time, how they balance and juggle everything…I find it fascinating and inspiring.
Lately I’ve been getting lots of questions in my DMs on social media asking me all about how I juggle running my 6 figure design business alongside being a Mum plus also managing to fit in exercise and also having a bit of a life as well!
So I thought I would break down one week in my life - blow by blow - so you could see what I get up to and perhaps take some ideas away and use them for yourself.
I have to warn you - I do work VERY hard. But I also only have limited time to do so - so I make the most of all hours that I have in the day. I’ll show you some of the ways I do that as I break it all down in this blog post.
OK, so if you’re ready, let’s get stuck in to it!
SUNDAY 4pm
My week really starts on Sunday evening. I spend about an hour just going over my week and planning things out. I look at the appointments I have. I see what courses or workshops I might have coming up that need to be promoted, or that I need to create content for, and I just generally plan out my priorities and get my head in order for the week ahead.
I do all my project management and to do lists inside a program called Asana. I’ll do a post one day on how I use Asana in my business and life - I have boards for all aspects of my business plus boards to manage things like home renovation/DIY jobs. You can also share boards with team members or with others - so I have some boards that I share with people I work with and the home DIY board I share with my husband (so I don’t have to nag him all the time about the things that need to be done around the house - good trick, right??!). Highly recommend Asana to anyone who loves a good to do list!
MONDAY
4.57am - I wake up (without an alarm clock!) at 4.57am every single morning pretty much. I find it crazy that my body clock knows to wake up exactly at that time. I have a back up alarm set for 5am but I don’t like to wake everyone in the house up so early so I guess my body knows to just wake up a few minutes earlier.
5.00am to 5.30am - I get in to my gym gear as Monday mornings are one of my training days. I have a big glass of water to rehydrate and I go in to my office for 20 mins or so and just check emails and catch up on anything that might have come in over night.
5.30am - I train 6 days a week with TRX Group Training, which is in a local park about 2.5km away. I run to my training each morning - so I leave at 5.30am to get there a little bit before 6am. My husband also comes to training but he drives so I drive back with him at the end.
6-7am - Training session. This morning it was a mix of kettle bells and TRX.
7am - Drive home from training
7-7.30am - I have a morning ritual of supplements that I take each day after training. This includes a green powder drink (from True Protein), 2 tablespoons of Apple Cider vinegar, a protein shake, a banana and some supplements (probiotic, magnesium, vitamin D, zinc, fish oil). I also finish getting the boys ready for school. My Mum and Step Dad give my husband and I a massive amount of help with our son Hugo, who is profoundly disabled. He lives with them most of the term time so that we can focus on helping the other two boys to get everything they need. So in the mornings on school days it’s just the other two boys that I need to focus on helping to get ready. They are both pretty self sufficient and I have a list of jobs up on the fridge for them so they can remember what to do each day without me needing to nag them!!
7.30-8.15am - School run - I chat to the boys on the way to school but on the way home I use the time to catch up on Podcasts. I hate wasting time so I always like to be doing something productive when I’m driving around (which I do a lot for the boys as all parents do!)
8.15am - I make a cup of tea when I get home and get ready to start my work day. I don’t drink coffee but I do like a strong cup of tea - a habit I picked up from my years living in London. I have about 4 cups of tea over the course of each day. I will normally have about 2 of those in this first period of work.
8.30am-10am - I’m in the middle of one of my courses at the moment - SketchUp for Interior Design Beginners Course - and each Monday morning a new module is released. So I spend this first hour or so publishing the module, emailing my students and compiling the questions for the live Q&A session that I do at 10am.
10-11am - Live Q&A session inside the SketchUp course group.
11-12.30 - I like to break up my day with an hour walk. I try to do this most days as I don’t like to just be sitting down at my desk all day. As I work from home and do a lot of work online I don’t get out of the office a huge amount anymore - not as much as I used to when I was more involved with 1 to 1 client work. I also normally need to pick up some things at the supermarket - so I combine my walk with grabbing anything we need. I also use the time to listen to audio books or podcasts. On this walk I listened to the latest episode of “How I built this”, which is a podcast I really love.
12.30-1.30 - I take a shower and have some lunch. I make the same lunch most days - a tuna and egg salad.
1.30-3.30pm - I am in the middle of creating a new online workshop so I spend the afternoon recording some videos for that.
3.30pm - like many working parents my work day ends at 3.30pm when I have to go and get the boys from the bus stop.
3.40-4.30pm - I pick up the boys and chat with them about their day, prepare afternoon tea, wash lunch boxes and get ready for the afternoon activity run. Archie (my little one) goes to Jiu Jitsu - my husband comes to take him - and I take my eldest to swim squads
5-6pm - I do another hour of work while I’m sitting at swim squad training. I can’t do focused work during this time but I normally catch up with my emails and social media, plus do anything that doesn’t require too much concentration.
6-7pm - head home and get dinner ready. We have been eating My Muscle Chef meals for about 6 months now. I get 4 of the same type and then tip them in to the fry pan with a bag of spinach. It is simple, tasty and very boy friendly - everyone loves them and they are portion controlled, healthy and high in protein. So they have really cut down on the prep and cooking time (not to mention the mental load!) of having to prepare dinner for the family each night. This has been a massive time saving hack for me lately. Highly recommend them if you’re in Sydney.
7.30-8.40pm - The Block is on at the moment so I sit down with the boys and watch that. It’s the only TV I really watch and it’s nice to spend a bit of down time with the family in the evening. The boys love the show and I’ve been watching since it first started - back when my husband and I first met over 15 years ago!
8.40pm - at the end of The Block I actually go to bed - yes I’m in bed before 9pm most nights. My husband is a night owl so he goes off and does some more work or watches something else on TV but I put the boys to bed and then head to bed myself after that.
9pm - I watch a bit of You Tube or Netflix on my phone - but honestly only for about 15 minutes before I find my phone is falling on my face as I’m so tired! So I’m normally asleep by 9.30pm. Boring, right???!! :)
TUESDAY
4.57am - Yep up again :)
5-6.45am - I get extra work time on Tuesday mornings as my training session is in the evenings. I love Tuesdays as I get SOOO much done in these early few hours. This morning I spend it editing the videos I recorded yesterday for my workshop coming up.
6.45-8am - I get the boys ready for school and drop them off. Same deal as yesterday - listen to the podcast on the way home.
8.30-9.30am - I sit down for an hour or so of work. I continue to edit the videos from the early morning. I like to get the work that I need to get done early in the day as I get more and more tired as the day goes on. I’m most productive in the hours before lunch.
9.30-10.30am - on Tuesdays my cleaner comes. This is one of the areas I outsource in order to gain back some hours in my life. I don’t really like hanging around while the cleaner is here so I head out for a walk - pick up some milk and more spinach for the dinner tonight.
10.30-12pm - I am finishing up a client project at the moment so I complete some tasks I need to do for that. I have to sort out some issues with a supplier and organise a few finishing bits and pieces.
12-12.30pm - I make my salad for lunch and eat it outside as the weather is getting a bit warmer. I live on the edge of the national park so I sit out the front and look out at the view that I’m so lucky to have.
12.30-3.30 - I have an appointment in the afternoon with a company called Aruma who I am hiring to pack up some surprise packages that I’m putting together for the next round of my SketchUp for Interior Design course. Aruma provide a place to work for people with disabilities who are not able to work independently and I’m so excited to be able to support them with a task that I have to pay someone to do anyway. I feel so grateful to be able to have the freedom to make choices like this based on the type of business I’ve decided to run. :)
3.40 - pick the boys up at the bus stop
3.40-4 - we are rushed on Tuesdays as I have to get both boys up to swimming by 4.30. So we grab some quick afternoon tea, get changed and head off.
4.30-6pm - both boys do swimming (squads or lesson) and I do some work while they are doing that. Again mostly emails and the things that don’t require much concentration.
6-6.30 - we drive back from swimming
6.30pm - I quickly get changed as I have a personal training session on Tuesday evenings at 7pm.
7-8pm - personal training session. We work on hip thrusts - I have a ridiculous goal of trying to lift 180kg in my hip thrusts. I’m currently up to 110kg so I’ve got a way to go lol - but I’m enjoying the challenge and love pushing myself physically.
8.30pm - I’m back from training and make a quick meal for myself. I don’t like eating this late so I choose one of the low carb My Muscle Meals and cook it up for myself. The boys have all eaten together while I’ve been out.
9pm - I’m in bed as soon as I’ve tucked the boys in. I’m asleep in about 5 minutes tonight!
WEDNESDAY
4.57am - I’m quite boring - up again!
5-5.15am - get ready for my training session
5.15- 5.30am - check emails and bits and pieces from over night
5.30am - run to my training session
6-7am - training - this morning is a circuit so we do a mix of 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off over about 9 different exercises and do that three times. It’s a mix of cardio and strength exercises. It’s a fun class. We do it inside the community hall as the weather is still a bit cold. In summer we train in the park, which is much nicer.
7.05am - I have to get home really fast on Wednesday mornings as my kids have to be at school early for music ensembles. So we leave as soon as I get back.
7.45am - I’m back early on Wednesdays so I take a shower, have my morning supplements and then make some tea.
8.30am - I’m ready to work. I have a full day at my desk today and I need to get the workshop I’m doing finished off. I complete a workbook, downloads, upload all the content to the platform and do some other tasks related to that workshop as well.
11-12pm - I stop at 11am to take a walk and stretch out a bit. I listen to a new audio book I’ve downloaded called ‘Powerful’ which is by the head of HR at Netflix - a really interesting book.
12.-12.30 - I make my salad and take another shower when i get back.
12.30-3.30 - I spend the afternoon finishing off the workshop. I don’t quite get everything done but I get pretty close.
3.40pm - pick up the boys
4pm - 6.30pm - we don’t have any out of the house activities but I help the boys with some homework and I sit with them to practice their instruments. Archie plays the violin and Caleb the trumpet. I’m an ex-professional musician (oboist) from a former life - so I find I can help them quite a bit with their practice and they always do it much better when I’m sitting with them! So I try and do that at least a few days per week. Once they are finished they have a bit of downtime and I catch up on emails and a bit of work before it’s time to make dinner.
6.30-7.30 - I make dinner and we have that together as a family. Tonight we are having the satay chicken from the My Muscle Meal range - it’s the boys favourite.
7.30pm - 8.30pm - it’s time for The Block!
8.30-9pm - get the boys ready and in to bed and I’m in myself by 9pm and asleep not long after. I’m a bit of a creature of habit, in case you haven’t guessed by now!
THURSDAY
I don’t do any training with TRX on Thursdays but I do go for a 5km run in the middle of the day. But it means I have from 5-7am or so to get a few solid hours of work done. I complete all the tasks I need for the workshop I’m launching (Pricing for Interior Design) and I then move on to working on a few updates to my website that I’ve been meaning to get to for a while.
7-8am - I help the boys get ready for school and drop them off. On the way back I listen to ‘Goal Digger’, which is a great podcast about online marketing.
8-11am - I work on some email automation that I’ve been wanting to get on top of for a while. I have quite a big email list but I’ve been neglecting it lately so I decided to finally make some changes to what i do with that list. So I spend some time working on that in the morning.
11-12pm - I go out for my run. I have always been a terrible runner but lately I’ve been trying a bit harder to get faster and run further. So I’m now up to running 5km at a reasonably pace (about 6min kms), which I’m pretty happy with.
12-1pm - I make my lunch and take a shower.
1-4pm - I head to the boys’ school as Archie’s class is hosting the assembly. I’m so happy to have my own business so I can attend things like this whenever they are on. It used to be so hard to get out of work when I had my corporate job but these days I’m so thrilled to be able to just drop everything and do this. Plus it means so much to the boys as well. I wait and pick them both up at the end of school and we head home.
4.-4.30 - afternoon tea and Archie gets ready to leave with my husband for Jiu Jitsu practice.
5-7pm - Caleb and I stay back. I help with his practice and some homework then we both do our own thing for a while. I check emails and catch up on things I missed while I was out in the afternoon.
7-7.30pm - dinner. Tonight is the Chilli Con Carne - another popular one with the boys!
The Block isn’t on Thursday evenings so we play a few rounds of Uno with the boys and then head off to bed.
9pm - you guessed it, I’m in bed and pretty much asleep!
FRIDAY
I train on Friday mornings so the morning is pretty much the same as the other days. Get up, run to training, do my session, get home and get the boys off to school.
8.30-10.30am - this morning I continue to work on another course I have in the works - my SketchUp intermediate course. I film some of the video content and prepare some things in my learning platform, Kajabi, which I use to host all of my workshops and courses.
10.30-12 - I go for a walk and then come and have an early lunch as I need to go to a client appointment in the afternoon.
1-3.30pm - I head to a client design consultation appointment. I’ve cut back on my 1 to 1 client work recently as I want to focus more on my online courses and workshops I do take on a few projects each month. I spend 90 mins or so going over the scope of the project and giving them lots of ideas to get started.
3.40pm - I get back just in time to get the boys from the bus. I am starving so have a protein shake when I get home. I drink True Protein shakes - the powder isn’t made from anything nasty and has no sugar, so very good for you. I find it stops me snacking on the kids afternoon tea as well lol :)
4-7pm - the boys are tired on Fridays. I let them relax and I get on with some work that I needed to catch up on after being out for the afternoon. I also prepare the fee proposal for the client I have just met with and get that ready to send over to them. I like to be efficient in sending out fee proposals while the conversation is top of my mind.
7-9pm is family time. We have dinner and watch some TV together.
I’m in bed by - you guessed it - 9pm!
WEEKEND
I am up on both Saturday and Sunday at 5am as well. I like to keep my routine the same every day as I find it much easier to stick with getting up early by just doing it each day. Because I go to sleep at a reasonable time I never really feel tired getting up. Plus I love what I do so I’m always motivated to get up and get going with my work.
Saturday mornings I work from 5-7am and then I head to training at TRX. We do a really good class of cardio and weights on Saturdays, it’s one of my favourite in the week.
On Saturday we have some sport to take the boys to - more swim squads and more jiu jitsu! We also have lunch at one of our favourite cafes - At Neutral in Neutral Bay. On Saturday afternoon we catch up on homework and practice and just do some jobs around home. Saturday night is our family pizza night - so we go out for that. It’s my treat meal for the week! I don’t drink much alcohol these days - I gave up about 6 months ago - but I do mostly have one glass of champagne on a Saturday night.
On Sunday I’m up early again and get a few good hours of work done before everyone gets up. We hang around at home in the morning and then head over to my Mum’s house as it’s Hugo’s 9th birthday next week so we have a little birthday party for him. He’s been in hospital a lot lately so we don’t have anything big - just a little family get together.
Once we get back it’s late Sunday afternoon and time to sit down and plan out the week ahead again!
WRAP UP
So there you have it. A busy week in the life of running my business. It’s been funny tracking the week so I can share it with you. It makes me realise that I am such a creature of habit and that I’m also on the go non stop from when I wake until when I go to sleep! But I think the fact that I do have such strong habits is one of the big reasons why I’m having a lot of success in my business and life lately. Having a set routine so that I fit in my work, exercise, time with the family - it’s all making things fall in to place. It probably seems really boring to you but I’m much happier when I’m in a structured routine - and much more productive as well.
So if you take anything away from this post I guess it would be - what habits or daily rituals might you be able to add to your life that will help to make it even a few percent better than they were yesterday. My structured day hasn’t always been like this. I’ve changed things bit by bit over time and at the moment this routine is working really well for me. I am productive and healthy. But no doubt it won’t be how I manage things forever. I find staying fit has been a massive game changer for me. It helps with my energy levels and my mental health by reducing anxiety, which I’ve been prone to for most of my life, and helps me manage stress much better as well.
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Anyway - I hope you’ve got some ideas and inspiration out of this post!!
What can you do to improve the routines in your day and make it 1% better than it was yesterday?
I would love to hear - let me know in the comments below :)
Until next time!
Clare x
