'Hustling' through my day can just go sod off!
When you run your own business, it seems that no matter where you turn some ‘guru’ is telling you about how not hustling is stealing your life and you are letting it.
The hustle culture we see on LinkedIn or Twitter (yes Gary Vee I’m looking at you), is constantly telling us to grind, grind, grind.
Get up at 5am they say, hit the gym, run 5km before breakfast, then meditate for (at least) 20-30 minutes, before you read a new motivational business book, while you sip your decaffeinated coffee, over a bowl of freshly cut fruit and chia seeds you prepared the night before!
PLEASE!
Let’s be clear here guys (and yes it’s only the guys I’m talking to), you get to do all this for two reasons only.
1 - You are single and run your own life or
2 - You have a wife/partner who does everything else in your life that allows you to do all this!
Now I don’t want to be labeled stereotypical or anything and sure there are men who are great husbands/partners/fathers, who lift their weight around the house, but they aren’t the ones who are part of the hustle culture, because frankly, they just don’t have the time.
And neither do we.
Those of us who have been up with sick kids during the night, or, even if they weren’t sick, getting up first to shower and dress ahead of getting kids up, breakfast, lunches, packing school bags etc… that’s our morning ‘hustle’.
Only after we brave the school traffic and return home, can we begin to carve out our day until we do it all in reverse from 3:30pm, when it’s school pickup time.
There are some super human women who can manage to run a (virtual) marathon during school times each day in their business, but I’ve never managed to be one of them.
I learnt a long, LONG, time ago that I can get (at best) maybe four hours of productive time for work during the time the kids are at school. During school holidays? That can drop to as low as two hours.
That is if the house doesn’t ‘talk’ to me during that time.
You know what I mean?
That load of washing that needs doing that is calling you from the laundry.
That ironing pile that seemingly grabs your attention every time you go near the basket. The dishwasher beeping to say the cycle is finished calls to me “unpack me, unpack me NOW’.
Close your office door they say.
Eliminate distractions by remaining focussed in an isolated area of your house.
Yeah right!
Somedays my house screams at me constantly, it’s too hard to ignore.
Did I take something out for dinner?
In fact, sh*t! What is for dinner tonight?
Did we run out of milk again? If that the fridge calling my name to go check?
Surely it can’t just be me that hears these things?
Maybe it is all in my head?
My husband doesn’t hear it, so maybe it’s not really there?
But I know my fellow sisters out there hear it too.
So how do we as women who work, hustle through our day, without it being a hassle?
The only thing I’ve found successful is being kind to myself on the days that can go so wrong by 7:30am!
The days that get derailed because the traffic to or from school took an hour longer than it should because of road works or an accident.
Being kind let’s me get up to check the milk supply, dinner provisions, or to pop a load of washing on.
Being kind allows me to make a second run to school because a sports kit was forgotten and was urgently needed.
Being kind to myself about my day, helps slide through those hijacked days when you are in flow and then the school rings to say, come collect your kid cause we found hair lice in their head (oh and you better take his brother too cause you never can be too careful)!
Being kind means knowing you may only get through item one on your to do list today, or on some days, no items at all.
Being kind means slowing down.
Being kind means ‘hustle’ has no place in my household while I’ve got kids who still need looking after.
Being kind is often all that matters.
Being kind is the only thing I’ve found works to keep me from getting disgruntled and agitated.
Being kind means giving yourself permission to relax and slow down when you need it.
So, are you being kind to yourself today?
Grab a copy of my new book - The Content Entrepreneur .
As we seek excellence in all we do, I want to share with you what I’m up to each week. It will keep me accountable to you, my readers and it will also help me to reflect on what I’ve done over the previous week. I’d love to get your feedback on whether you think this is a good idea or not.
➡️ This Week’s Progress
My book was launched on Tuesday so I have been busy promoting that, and continuing with history flashcards! and my website.
➡️ This Week’s Reading
Reading all the great chapters in The Content Entrepreneur.
➡️ This Week’s Viewing
I’ve started a re-watch of Gilmore Girls. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s entertainment, has good music and demands nothing of me! Bliss 😍
📝 - Latest Issue- Traveling Through History Newsletter
Issue 43: Cambridge Colleges - Queens’, King’s and Trinity
🎙️- Tilt Your Business Podcast - This Week’s Episode
Ep 34: Tilt Your Business - An Interview with The Content Entrepreneur authors
🎙️- Business on the Bloc Podcast - This Week’s Episode
Ep 75: AI Runs out of Internet
Michelle is a Writer, Marketer, Content Entrepreneur, Historian (Mst Oxon) and mother of 3 boys.
After 25 years in business and as the ‘Content Marketing Queen’ for over 13 years, she has helped countless small businesses understand and develop their content strategies and focus on a customer first approach.
On International Women’s Day in March 2024, Michelle hung up her crown so that she could be a Queen Maker to inspire and assist women over 40, rise up to be the Queens they were born to be.
At Excellence Takes Courage we will navigate together what it takes to achieve excellence, with courage.
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Feeling exhausted just reading it but I am sure we can all relate. Take care and relax some 🫶🫶