Julia Porter’s Post

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Senior Director, Content Marketing, Optimizely

Battling the work / home life jiggle juggle... evening edition: This week I've had three women ask me how I balance working full time and raising two toddlers. "You have everything so under control" one assured me. While that's sweet to say, it's certainly not how I feel on the regular. Here's an ever so slightly fictionalized run down of a recent evening (details edited to protect names, egos and reputations :)) 3pm: Leave office early to get home in time to be on a team call before nursery pick up. This has been precisely calculated in advance, weighing up time spent in transit with time in office, weighed against different scenarios and deemed the least worst option. 3.30pm: Train is delayed. Stuck on a held tube with no signs of movement. Furiously text team members with updates. Get an alert for an accident report from the nursery; just a bumped elbow, accept the notification and listen intently for train updates. 4.05pm: Home after a short power walk, cursing TFL and best laid plans. Call is delayed by 40 mins, dither between tasks and planning dinner ideas 5.15pm: Leave meeting mid flow for nursery pick up. Feel frustrated leaving the discussion halfway through, then frustrated and guilty that I'm not more prepared for pick up. Double toddler meltdown about (in no particular order): snack choice, who goes through the door first, getting in the shower, getting out of the shower, who gets a story first... and so on. 7.30pm Toddlers in bed. Realize there are no clean uniforms for toddler 1 so tumble dry one individual jumper and one pair shorts so they are set for the morning (Sorry 🌍) 8.00pm - Prepare and eat dinner, mind racing between the to dos that need to be added to tomorrow's list and concentrating on a single episode of something (currently: The Bear Season 3 🐻♥️) 9.30pm - Load more washing, fall asleep Key takeaways? Two seemingly opposite statements can also be true at the same time: - We are all doing a great job at what we are doing - We're all struggling to do a great job at whatever we are trying to do Keep going!

MC (Marie-Claire) Silfer 🩵

B2B Revenue Attribution @ Dreamdata | Sales 🫶 Marketing | ex-professional ballerina🩰 | Mum | Brit in Denmark 🇩🇰

5mo

This is a carbon copy of my life 😅 2 kiddos, full time job = full time juggler and a constantly messy house 🤷♀️ over time I’ve come to accept that I can’t do everything or be everything for others, that results in burn out pretty fast.

Dave Corlett

Business Director at Shaped By | Helping B2B tech firms build bolder brands ⚡️ | Host of The Changemakers podcast 🎧

5mo

"Double toddler meltdown about who goes through the door first" 🤣 literally every day at the moment. Massive respect for the candidness and completely concur that those two statements can be true at the same time (and also for a sustained period of time that feels like forever but honestly won't be)

Eden Bidani

Conversion copywriter. Messaging strategist. Undercover anthropologist. | Acquire more customers, more profitably with copy + messaging that reveal the full extent of your tech's powers 🦸♀️

5mo

Just one of the curiosities of life where 2 opposing things can be true at the same time ☺️ (and totally get it, my kids are on summer vacation so trying to find the right balance without dropping one of the many spinning plates is... a work in progress 😅)

Laila Sulaiman

Director of Client Services at Publicis Groupe

5mo

As I prepare to return to work after my second maternity leave - this is a very good reminder of life before I left for mat leave. The plus side this time round I guess is that I have you, a seasoned juggler & mum of two to call on for a laugh or a scream when the jiggle juggles of life throw extra special tests my way!! Xxx

Mor S.

Content Marketing Manager building impactful content and brand for B2B SaaS companies

5mo

This post can be copied and pasted and with a few changes, it can sadly, fit with every modern working mom's struggle around the world. Sheesh

Ashlyn Brewer

SVP/Tech Practice Lead at Standing Partnership | Bringing innovations to market

5mo

I'm not sure how this found its way into my feed but I'm glad it did. That last bit especially really resonated.

Erin Balsa

Let's turn your strategic narrative into 12 months of original content | Content marketing consultant @ Haus of Bold | Mom x 3 | American living in the UK

5mo

Been there! This was my life about 8 years ago. So hard to juggle meetings, trains, and nursery pickups (ours charged $1/minute for being late - gah!). You’re doing great, mum. 🙌🏻

You're doing amazing! Never forget that...I keep having to remind myself my kids will never be this young again and try to enjoy the moments although they drive me crazy at times...especially the "witching hour" 🤪 I get it, it's challenging, you feel like you're so many different people all in one day, it's exhausting! I get them involved in house tasks, set a timer so it's like a fun game for them...hope you're taking some time out for you too!

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Lauren Bull

Director, Deal Advisory

4mo

You are smashing it though hun! It’s accepting the constant juggle and that sometimes “surviving” is enough!

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Gül Yüksel Tuğanalp

Content Marketer & Social Media Manager for Creative Minds

5mo

Balancing it all is no small feat—you're doing amazing!

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