Almost four years ago now, I started blogging for a bit of fun. It was akin to therapy really.
A year or so later, I accidentally fell into the world of freelance writing and blogging as an actual way to make real money. Ridiculous, really, and only the kind of thing you can do accidentally when you have a year or so to throw at it for free in the first place.
Largely against my will, I became a stay at home mum.
It was then that I started to take this freelance stuff a bit more seriously. After all, money’s kind of important if you want to live and eat and stuff.
Last year I did alright, managing to bring in an income alongside looking after my kids. OK so I did neither particularly well and at times my stress levels were through the roof but we aren’t homeless so that’s the main thing.
ANYWAY this being self-employed led me to give a talk to my local mums-in-business group about blogging. It was lovely, and they’re a nice bunch, there was cake…And while in the main I have no idea what they’re talking about, I stick about for the camaraderie.
Not all women-in-biz (groan) groups on Facebook are created equal, however.
Many are filled to the brim with ‘MLM’ victims who have been led to believe that they are somehow a ‘business owner’ or ‘entrepreneur’ (or even a ‘GIRLBOSS’ which makes me want to claw my eyes out), rather than a gullible customer.
And then some of them are full of totally batshit crazy women desperate to one-up everyone else because unless you’re making other people feel rubbish, what’s the point?
And then there’s this.
I think I can speak for many of us when I say… WHAT the EVERLIVING fuck? This person clearly doesn’t have kids because NO parent in their right mind would give up THAT much sleep (would anyone even without kids?!).
More likely they’re just a big fat liar. Is it even legal to get up at 4.30am?
The ONLY times (in my humble opinion) that it is acceptable to be up at 4.30 IN THE MORNING are a) If you have a baby that won’t sleep, b) If you’re going on holiday somewhere exciting, or c) If you’re stumbling in from a rather excellent night out.
This is my daily routine as a hard working self-employed mum of two:
At 7.30am, my alarm goes off.
This doesn’t wake me, of course because I’ve already been awake for several hours at this point, ever since my early-waking son got up and started yelling DADDY, DADDY from his bed. I should be grateful because at least he knows he shouldn’t come in and wake us until his Gro Clock says so, and we’ve got to the point now where we are able to ignore him safe in the knowledge that nothing life-threatening is occurring, but it’s still shitting annoying.
By the time my alarm actually goes off, I’ve probably been either a) closing my eyes and pretending to be asleep or b) scrolling my phone for quite a while.
It’s important to stay abreast of current affairs.
And Facebook.
I then lie in bed being aurally (and sometimes physically) assaulted until the very last minute, when I get out of bed and get ready, whilst verbally encouraging the kids to do the same at increasing volume and ferocity.
I try very hard not to shout my way through breakfast and the school run, and then I run home, make a cup of tea, empty the dishwasher and put the washing on, maybe hoover, definitely do not scrub any skirting boards, drink the tea.
About half past nine I log on to my computer and take a look at my emails and my to-do list.
…And then I spend the next few hours scrolling through social media, deliberately ignoring all emails I don’t want to have to reply to, and occasionally typing a few words here and there until about an hour before a deadline/school pick up time.
It does mean I spend a lot of evenings desperately trying to catch up (although I never seem to get into the zone until about ten minutes after I should have gone to bed) but my ‘system’ seems to be working so far.
I certainly won’t be getting up before I go to sleep to practice breathwork whatever the fuck that is, and I see the little sleep I actually get as being pretty bloody important.
It’s just a thought, but if you actually get enough sleep you may not need to meditate?
Anyway.
As I see it, I’m doing OK at this self employed lark, actually.
And, ultimately, so could you, if you really wanted to, and it’s hard work for sure but you definitely don’t have to be up at 4.30 in the sodding morning to do it.