So what do you do? I am regularly asked this question by all sorts of people including clients, associates of clients, friends and family.
This is what goes through my mind when it is asked:
Do I tell them how, every morning I get up, get ready, wake my partner and four children up and try and nag them out of bed to go to work/school, whilst making breakfast, emptying the dishwasher and respond to half a dozen of email before 8am?
Do I tell them how I make early morning phone calls to government departments, whilst trying to help my partner rescue a fish from drowning, after jumping out of our pond and landing on the net, as well as saying goodbye to our eldest child who is nagging to take his phone to school and simultaneously, respond to a client via email?
Do I tell them how, I have to walk 3 of our kids to school, dropping them off at 3 separate classrooms, make polite chitchat with the teachers, update them on the latest change/clothing/missing shoe and dash home ready to start work only to remember that I forgot to sign one of their school diaries?
Do I tell them how I have to put on endless loads of washing, whilst feeding the cat, put clothes away, answer the door to the postman, all whilst trying to manage a 5 page document that has a 1 day deadline?
Do I tell them how I have to call the latest bill company up and tell them they have our details wrong and yes I live here, and yes my partner is a woman and yes she is on the bills too, in between conference calls?
Do I let them know that I have to create content for industries I know nothing about but insist on me writing for them - researching technological jargon just to understand their brief?
Do I tell them that I have to manage a house, cook tea, note down which activity the kids have the next day, week, month, manage my own diary, appointments, work schedule, quickly fill up on petrol for the next meeting and coordinate extra work dates with my partner?
Picture sourced from www.unsplash.com (Luis Llerena)
Do I tell them that I am always doing 3 jobs at once and am lucky to have one cup of tea never mind two and that even though I go to a meeting, in my head I am timing when I can complete projects and what words I can use for creativity?
Do I tell them that I have to quickly make tea and get my daughter ready for gymnastics, finish a project and drive half an hour to drop off said daughter to gym in a one hour time frame?
Do I tell them that evenings are a mixture of cooking tea, bathing children, more washing, putting washing away, cleaning up after children, making packed lunches for the next day, finishing projects, create content out of thin air and try to stay awake to spend time with my partner?
Do I tell them about the children's competitions we all have to attend at the weekends and the endless emails I have to send in-between shouting words of support? Do I tell them of the tantrums and tears I have to handle, week in week out whilst typing frantically to complete a job I love?
Do I tell them all this?
My response: I run a marketing business from home.
Their response: Must be fun working from home?
Editor's note: I would like to note, that said partner, always helps wherever and whenever she can!
Article written by: Emma Williamson
Owner of: Make a Cup of Tea
Website: www.makeacupoftea.co.uk