A Day in the Life of Jennifer Worman
I recently took a poll on my instagram to ask my readers what they wanted to know about me and these were the top two questions I received! So here it is, a blog post dedicated to those questions:
#1 What does your typical day look like?
#2 How do you manage it all?
AND The statement I’ve been getting frequently, “Your life looks so good on instagram!” will also be addressed as well.
I don’t have a typical day but hopefully this answer some of your questions of what I do and how it looks in the background vs instagram. Currently I have my kids half the week (if you don’t know why, read my post here), most days we wake up at 7:30am and by 9:00am I’m off working. I either work from home or coffee shop/Soho house in Chicago. About 25% of my work time is spent on T&J Designs in doing marketing, talking to my parents about shipping, figuring out new strategies to decrease our inventory, and updating any inventory needed. The other 50% of my time is spent on emails, meeting with potential collaborations/PR firms, negotiating contracts, posting on instagram and being on instagram commenting or answering questions. The last 25% of my time (but not least important) is spent consulting on social media for other(s). This year my focus has been on expanding my blog/social and growing my knowledge of this space.
I spent A LOT of my time on my computer and phone. Blogging, answering questions, looking at new collaborations, researching the changes, etc. All this is done on these two outlets! The biggest perks about this? You can do this anywhere. Those fancy/nice vacations you see me taking, my laptop and phone are ALWAYS with me. Work doesn’t stop after I post and I work all the time. What I do looks fun, but it is a LOT more work than people think. My life looks good on instagram because all you see are the pretty photos and what I allow my followers to see. I’m not big on showing my bad days, I guess I see it as an outlet to get away from the negative and I purely show the positive.
This definitely has its challenges. As an open book, I am judged a lot by photos and my stories. I see it as a small consequence of doing something I love, but it has also made a huge impact on my personal life. Those that peak at others to judge ONLY should really look at themselves. At this day and age, blogs, instagram and facebook can really connect you to some awesome people, but it can also negatively give others an excuse to judge your life. I feel lucky that I am able to ignore it at times, but don’t get me wrong, sometimes it hurts. At the end of it all, I walk away knowing, I love what I do and the amazing opportunities that keep coming my way are due to my attitude, creativity and hard work. Screw the ones that don’t get it :).
Everyday is different, but meetings happen all the time probably every other day, I check emails all day up until almost midnight, and I focus purely on instagram at night after my kids go to bed. Same with blogging, I write blogs after 8:30pm. On Thursdays/Fridays, I focus on taking time off during dinner time and at night. I typically hang out with friends and try to take those two days off after 7:00pm.
How do I do it all? I don’t, sometimes my house is a mess, sometimes I have no toilet paper (this has happened in the past few months), sometimes I have anxiety and have to call a friend to help me organize my thoughts. But overall, I don’t do it all. What is it all? I try to focus on what I can do and let go of the things I can’t get to. It took me a while to be able to let go, but I’ve gotten better after 6 years of owning my own business and blog.
The other thing is I have help. My nanny is with me two times a week, she helps me with laundry and my kids. I have a housekeeper that comes every other week to help do the things I can’t get to. And my kids father has them 50% of the time so that leaves me more time than before to clean the house, catch up on work, and/or see my friends. When I have my kids, I have them by 5:15 and I am with them until 8:30pm when I put them to bed.
Owning my own business, gives me leeway to make decisions, sometimes I have to grocery shop during the day (I hate crowds) but than I’ll work later, (which is most of the time). The flexibility is there for me to go to my kids school to volunteer to taking a half day or to do something for myself. The only downfall is that I can also work all the time. I’m a night person so when 9pm hits, I’m at my peak. I get work done! I don’t sleep well and thrive on stress. This year has been incredibly stressful with my personal life and career changes, so although it all looks pretty on instagram and the blog, the background is full of bumps.
Dress | Sunglasses (for $15 off code redsolesandredwine15) | Similar shoes here and here
Overall, I’m a Type A, controlling, motivated person that tries to work hard and play hard while looking fashionable. I overschedule myself (I hate downtime or being by myself) and I push myself to be as successful as I can be in what I pursue. I’m still learning to be more focused and not to take too much on.
I didn’t write what I do for every second of the day, but balancing being a mom, T&J Designs, blogging, social media and consulting is an everyday challenge and experience I love.
I love hearing from you and you guys inspire me to to share more! Drop me a note anytime when you want to know something. There were more questions I received, so look out for more blog posts similar to this.
