Diary of a Working Woman
Passionate, hard-working, fearless Educationalist, Psychologist and mother, Johnette Barrett talks to a selection of working women who have gone through many challenging experiences, often having to undergo many conflicting roles. Johnette unravels the secrets of being a successful woman in today’s world.
Diary of a Working Woman
Is Your Work Stealing Your Life? The No-Excuses Guide to Taking Back Control!
Transitioning to self-employment and working from home sounded like a dream come true, but it quickly turned into a monotonous cycle that consumed my personal life. Join me on this episode of Diary of a Working Woman, as I share the ups and downs of finding a healthier work-life balance amidst the chaos of home-based self-employment. Through candid reflection, I explore how demanding work hours began to eclipse my well-being and personal happiness. I’ll share actionable strategies I’ve adopted to regain control, from establishing daily routines to shifting my mindset, and how these simple changes can lead to a more fulfilled life that doesn’t feel dominated by work.
A shocking encounter with a body analysis machine at the gym was the wake-up call I needed. Despite a healthy weight, the machine revealed high levels of visceral fat, a reminder of the silent impacts of a sedentary lifestyle. This health scare, compounded by a family history of serious conditions, prompted me to overhaul my daily habits. Discover how a simple mantra, "I put my body before my work," became my guiding principle, driving a transformative journey towards improved physical and mental well-being. From setting out workout clothes the night before to prioritizing morning exercises, I’ll discuss how these intentional choices have not only boosted my productivity but have significantly reduced stress. Join me as we tackle the systemic challenges of modern work life and explore the conscious decisions necessary for a healthier, longer life.
A new podcast in which Johnette Barrett, educational psychologist, seeks out inspirational working women who have transformed their lives and that of others through their courageousness and compassion.
The conversations that follow are sometimes eye-opening, sometimes heart- breaking and sometimes humourous.
Diary of a Working Woman (DOAWW) is hosted by Buzzsprouts .com.
Email: diaryofaworkingwoman@yahoo.com
Instagram: doaww podcast
Website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2227789
Welcome to the Diary of a Working Woman podcast. I'm Jonette, your host On this podcast. I'll be speaking to women from all walks of life, of different ages, and the thing that they'll have in common is that they will work in some way or another. Their stories will be motivating, inspiring, empowering. I just know you're going to enjoy it. Please follow me on Diary of a Working Woman to receive all the latest episodes. Tune in Hi, it's great to be back with you all.
Speaker 1:I think since the last time that I did a solo podcast, I've been really reflecting on my life and I said I'd be sharing with you a little bit more about me and what makes me tick. And yeah, I've been really reflecting on my happiness. Am I truly happy? And I embarked on the self-employment route a couple of years ago and I have no regrets. I think it's absolutely the right thing for me to be working for myself at this stage of my life, with all the experience that I've gathered in lots of different fields, so it does feel right.
Speaker 1:But working from home, I was beginning to feel that my job was stealing my life. I literally felt that I had no life, and I know some of you out there will be able to relate to what I'm saying. Do you get up every day and do you feel as if you're stuck in the rat race? You get up and you're peddling away at that treadmill. You know, just going, going, going, get up in the morning work bed. Get up in the morning work bed and it can become really monotonous. And when you work from home, you know, sometimes it feels even more intense, or it certainly did for me. So, after a lot of agonising, I started to think surely there must be a better way, an easier way, a more productive way of getting my work done than getting up every morning, sitting in my kitchen and at the laptop and doing what is really rewarding work. I love it. I wouldn't change it for the world.
Speaker 1:However, I was starting to feel really lethargic and I started to lose myself, to be honest, because at least when you actually go out to work, you know you can get dressed in the morning. You know put your suit on or whatever your work at I might be, and you're going out, you're interacting with people, you're seeing people. There wasn't that same sort of motivation to look your best when you're working at home, and I know those of you work at home may feel like this and a lot of pluses and minuses, because at least you don't spend, you know, the time getting, I don't know the hair, the makeup, the clothes ready. So whilst you haven't got that necessarily as part of your routine, you know you do. If you're working, like myself and you are online a lot, you know you do still have to present yourself in a certain way.
Speaker 1:So I was getting up every morning. I'm a morning person and that sluggishness would kick in. And I was just beginning to think, although I was trying to work out twice a week and some weeks I managed even three times going to the gym and that'd be great. But when I sort of weighed it up with the amount of hours I was putting into my job and I think maybe some of you will agree that when you actually work for yourself, you're putting even more hours than you would do going out and you know working for other people. So you know the mornings roll into the evenings and before you know it, you're clocking up 12 to 15 hours a day. And that was my life.
Speaker 1:And then I started to feel, really just started to resent it. I really started to resent putting in that amount of work and that disproportionate work and disproportionate hours, with your working out at the gym for maybe three or four hours a week. If I was lucky to you know, doing a minimum of 50 hour week with work, I thought, no, I have no work-life balance. All my life I've been striving for work-life balance and if you're like me and you like to work hard but you like to play hard, you know, sometimes you can just feel out of sorts a little bit. So I decided a few weeks ago about three weeks ago that I was going to do something about it. You have control. You have to believe in yourself. You have to believe that you can change this around.
Speaker 1:It's all about mindset, and in today's podcast, I'm going to be sharing just three things, three different ways of creating a better work-life balance. And first of all, it's starting with your daily routines. We're going to talk about daily routines. I'm going to share with you some hacks and tips, things that you can do to just change the way that you are approaching your work on a daily basis. And then I'm going to share with you the importance of having that mindset, you know, having those, building those habits and starting within your mind and that will then propel you through to the rest of the day and then throughout the rest of the week and, before you know it, you've got new, healthy habits setting in and that work-life sort of disconnect is all of a sudden going to start coming together. You will see.
Speaker 1:Just listen for a bit longer and, if you can, if anything what I'm saying at the moment is resonating with you and I know a lot of you who are out there working will probably feel this way that you have no life. Your job is your life, you know, and it really shouldn't be like that. It really shouldn't be like that. Our jobs really shouldn't be stealing our lives. Because we've got families I mean, some of them have got families you've got friends. You've got families. I mean, some of them have got families. You've got friends. You've got other things to do. And then the third thing I'm going to be doing is really just preparing yourself for success and that longevity and maintaining that healthy work life balance that is going to make you feel so much better, so much better. So you know, here we go, let's launch into it.
Speaker 1:And the first thing I'd want to say, I'd like to share, is what I did to try and turn this upside down. So I looked at my work schedule and thought how can I just inject more movement into my life? So if you're like me and like hundreds of you out there, you'll have a Fitbit, you'll have a watch that will just monitor your activity throughout the day. And I remember just going to bed every day, just disappointed because I'd only closed one ring. I would rarely close the stand ring because I sat down a lot in my job. The move ring. Even though I was working for maybe sort of exercising, maybe an hour, an hour and a half a day, that move ring would seldom close Exercise ring. I was a bit more successful in closing, but I longed to have a goal where I could close all three rings really easily.
Speaker 1:And I thought you have to approach this like I approach work. And if you've got a really good work ethic, or if you strive to having one, and you've got a diet with work diary, then approach your work-life balance, approach exercise as if you're approaching your work with the same level of diligence. So I looked at my schedule and I thought right, okay, how can I ensure that every day I am moving my body? Moving my body, a level that is going to produce productivity in terms of my work, promote a healthy mind, just make me a happier person, uplift my mood. And so what I do every morning now, and so what I do every morning now, I take my mornings back. My mornings are my own.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I work on me first, so I diarise it, so schedule your activities, your exercise is throughout the week, and then I set little timers. So the timer I'll set it for the day before, reminding me what activity is coming up the next day in terms of exercise. And that is creating a routine and routines. If you do it regularly enough and consistently enough, will become a habit and I can say, three weeks down the line, I'm now into a routine. I'm now into a habit where my body and my mind, my mindset, comes first before my work and then everything else just clicks into place. So diarise my exercises.
Speaker 1:You may may think, well, okay, what sort of exercises? You will know what works for you. Start small and incrementally. Do something that is easy Work on, maybe something low intensity to begin with, and just maybe a short amount of time 15 minutes. Make your goals realistic, just like you're setting your goals for work. Make them realistic and time bounded. So maybe, to begin with, 15 minutes every morning, get up, sort yourself out and then get down to some exercise, something that's achievable, maybe something high impact, a HIIT class. Or, if you don't like HIIT, you know, maybe stretching, walking, maybe cycling, but moving your body and getting your heartbeat racing a little bit. And then, once you've done that and once you've got into a routine of that, then you know, because you're diarising it, because you've got these little, you've got your timers going off, you know what's coming up.
Speaker 1:And one of the things that really helps me is thinking about accountability for my body. We have accountability for work. Yeah, there's work accountability. You're accountable to yourself or to your manager. But how much do you hold yourself to account for your exercise and your wellbeing? So I decided to right, I'm going to make myself accountable. So what I do I at my gym?
Speaker 1:I've decided, instead of just doing weights and just doing things by myself in the, you know, in the weights room, I now do classes and people have been saying to me for a while you know, you need to change it up. You know, variety is the spice of life. They say, right, right. So I now do, like you know, on a Monday I will do a cardio class at the gym with a friend and working out with a friend can really help because that can help with your motivation, get you up in the morning. You know someone is depending on you, relying on you, counting on you. So we go and we get there 7am and you know it's hard to begin with, maybe the first five minutes, but then you get into a flow. So you know exercising it's hard to begin with, maybe the first five minutes, but then you get into a flow. So you know, exercising with someone, just getting that routine. On Tuesday I now do body pump and at first time you know it was rubbish, you know.
Speaker 1:You may think you know exercise classes aren't for me and whatever works for you, just do something, just move. But what I found with exercise classes is that you know you get to interact with other people. People get used to seeing you there. You get to push yourself a bit more because you see others work hard and there's accountability for yourself. So from Monday to Thursday I have set classes that I do at the gym and they're religious. Now they're as religious as my meetings with my clients. They're in the diary and they're a done deal. They're a done deal, I get them done.
Speaker 1:And this is what if you want to change that unhealthy work-life balance, try and focus on exercise as part of your daily routine, in the way that your work is so, just setting those good habits, so diarising, setting timers, accountability, maybe working out with a friend, and once you've got those and you're just consistent, you build intensity, you build your time period. Then, after a while, your body will get used to it and your body will really thank you for it, and so will your mind. So the next thing I'm going to do is talk about your mindset, because if you haven't got the right mindset, then nothing of what I'm saying is going to be sustained, because you may well fall into unhealthy habits, like I have in the past, where I've said, right, I've set myself up, I'm going to get up every morning, I'm going to put my app on, I'm going to do this class every morning, and then I last for, like I don't know, two, three weeks, and then it just all goes a bit pear-shaped again, and so it's a bit. It's about knowing what works for you, and I think what works for me is getting out of the house, getting out of the four walls and just you know, breathing in some oxygen, just moving somewhere else and just getting treating the gym like my workplace, yeah, like my workplace. I am going to work, I'm going to work on my physical health and that will then help with my mental health. But, coming up, I'm going to share with you, just maybe, some daily affirmations, some mantras that you can use to just set you up. Set you up for creating that routine, that daily routine, those daily goals that are going to make you feel oh so much better and you're going to see, as I've seen, that it's transformed my work productivity. It really has.
Speaker 1:If you really are feeling that your work-life balance is really getting you down, like it was getting me down and we've heard that there's a lot we can do we can put ourselves in the driving seat, we can change this. I think one to create that impetus, you need a reason of why. Why do I need to change? Why now, and why did I decide to look at my exercise, my health, my lifestyle at this stage of my life? And it was the catalyst, was really working for myself and finding that I was miserable, miserable, just sat there every day, although I liked my job, just the monotony of it all. And there was more to it than that, if I'm honest.
Speaker 1:I think I remember going to the gym on the one day and they had one of these swanky machines that measure your body parts. You know, you stand on the machine and you hold the prongs in your hand and then gives you a body analysis. And I remember seeing this machine and trying to like, avoid it. I avoid it for days and there's no way I'm going on that. I know that I'm not going to like what I see. But then one day there were two members of staff, you know, in the reception when I arrived first thing in the morning and they said have you seen the machine? Have you tried it? And I said, said yeah, I've seen it, but no, I think I'll, I don't want to go on there. But they persuaded me to go on there and it was the best thing they could ever have done, because that again was the reason for me just having a complete shift in the way that I'm thinking about um, how much or how little um exercise I was doing on a weekly basis.
Speaker 1:So I think the biggest worry for me in terms of that body analysis was my visual fat level. So you'll know, your visual fat is the fat around your organs, and my visual fat level came out as high and I was really surprised. You know, I've got a small scale at home and you know it says that I'm in the normal range. But then this industrial machine was saying my visual fat is high. And when I started to worry about that, was thinking about just my family and genetics, and I know that you know my family, we've got diabetes, we've got high blood pressure, we've got cardiovascular disease and that's all associated with visual fat, the fat around your organs.
Speaker 1:So straight away I started to think my job is making me ill. I'm actually sick and I don't even realise. You know these are problems that are bubbling underneath my skin that I was not even seeing. And that was the catalyst for me, because I thought there's no way that I can have this information and not do anything with it, because that would just be silly, wouldn't it? That was stupid. So that was the reason I thought, right, no, I have to change, I'm going to change now. And so the following morning I thought, right, let's just have it.
Speaker 1:It was the thought that same day I actually got home, looked on my app and thought, right, okay, I need, I need, I need, I need, I need to change this. Let's see what classes I can put in every morning. I'm going to put my body before my work. So this is about having a daily mantra that is really going to give you the motivation, the why, for changing your life around and putting your exercise and your health at the centre of everything that you do. If you want a long life, if you want to grow you know, be able to see your children grow, their children grow you know great grandchildren then you know we have to really look at the sedentary lifestyle that a lot of us have gotten into the habit of and really think if it's serving us and we know it's not serving us, but we, you know, the system is made this way, isn't it to keep us? To keep us working, to keep us and work until we're dead, you know, 70, 75 and then we keep over. But, joking aside, um, that was my reason why I thought, right, I need to get my visual fat levels down. So, therefore, I need to increase my exercise.
Speaker 1:So the mantra, the daily mantra that the first one I want to share with you is the one that I just think about every morning when I wake up. I put my body before my work. I put my body before my work and that is what I do. I put my body before my work. So I know I've scheduled it, I've had my time room the evening. I wake up, the time goes off, you have got a class this morning. And I just say to myself, as I'm getting up and getting dressed, I put my body before my work and that positive affirmation is enough to make me just feel motivated and committed to this goal that I've set for myself, that goal to reduce my visual fat level, to promote a much healthier body in turn, a healthier mind and attitude, and just to just be genuinely feel better about myself. You know, I'm no different to any of you out there. You know.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you look in the mirror and you think, oh, you know, and I just feel that the sluggishness that I was beginning to experience both in my mind, brain fog and just general unhappiness. You take it out on people, don't you? You take it out on your loved ones, my poor other half. I started to see faults in him. He's leaving his plate on the table again. You know he's doing this again, but when I really stopped to think about it it's because I was unhappy. So, yeah, I thought, yeah, I'm going to program my mind, program my mind. I put my body before my work. That's the first thing. And then, you know, I started thinking about just the balance, you know, the balance of your, just your work-life balance, in terms of how much of the portion of activity that you're doing in your day compared to the amounts of work when you're sat down and sedentary, and I thought that has to be a different mantra coming right up.
Speaker 1:So another mantra I'd like to share with you is a balanced body equals a balanced mind. A balanced body equals a balanced life. If your body is not balanced, if it's out of kilter, if your visual fat levels are in a dangerous zone, you know if, if you're, if you are just feeling that you are, your immunity is low and that you're ill a lot, you're picking up lots of infections and there's an imbalance there in your body that you really need to turn around. Because it can, it will affect your mental health. It will affect your mental health, it will affect your work productivity, it'll just affect just generally how you feel on a day-to-day basis. So it's really really, really, really important to just think a healthy body, a balanced body, equals a balanced lifestyle. A balanced body equals a balanced life, and that's another one of the mantras that I think about. If my body needs to get back where it wants to be and be balanced and happy and healthy, then that is taken care of. Then you know, I'm more likely to have a balanced life.
Speaker 1:And the third mantra I'd like to share with you is there'll always be work, but your health won't always be there. Work will always be there, but my health won't. Work will always be there, but my health won't. And that one is really that's really pressing for me, because I just think you know, obviously I've got family, I've got children, and I just think you know, if I don't take care of my health, I won't be around potentially to be able to take care of the one, the people that I love in my life. So it's important to get that at the corner, at the centre of your mind as well that work will always be there, but your health won't. So I hope you find those affirmations helpful.
Speaker 1:Use them every day, remind yourself if you get up and you know you're human. If you fall off the bandwagon, you get up and your your intention was to go to the gym that morning, but something's happened, I don't know. Um, uh, you had to wait in for a parcel, maybe, or your child's ill and you haven't been able to follow that routine. Don't beat yourself up. Don't then say use that as an excuse for not following your routine, because then all you need to do is have a look at your work schedule and see where you can schedule it in later on in the day. And if you can't, then all's not lost. No one's died, you know. Just jump back on to your daily schedule. Exercise schedule the following day, jump back on the following day.
Speaker 1:But it is important that you develop a no excuses culture, no excuses when it comes to exercise, because exercise is everything it really does promote better physical health, mental health, happiness. You know it positively affects your relationships with other people as well. So in fact, that is the last thing that I'm going to be talking about how you can build just some systems, some strategies for success. So setting yourself up for success based on these habits that we've been talking about is the next thing. That is what I'm going to leave you with. So, now that you've got your mind in where it needs to be in terms of having that no excuses culture to put in your body first every day, putting your body before your work, having your daily mantras that you are going to be living and breathing every day just to get you fueled and focused, um, now we just need to make sure that you have got everything ready to stick to your plans, that stickability, those strategies for building that success. So one of the things that, um, I do is just like you be doing perhaps I'm sure you do this as well when you're getting ready for work.
Speaker 1:Some of you may actually set out your work clothes, your suit, whatever you're wearing to work the evening before, because it just saves time the following morning, right? So you know, do the same for your exercise clothes, whatever you're going to be wearing, you know, for the night, night and morning before. Because I work out first thing in the morning, it's really, really important that I don't lose time. So, the night before, my exercise clothes are all set out ready so that I'm up, I'm washed, do my daily mantras. I know what I'm doing in terms of keeping my mind focusing on putting my body first, before my work, get dressed, then I'm out. I'm out the house, I'm at the gym, I'm doing my classes, what have you? And I'm focused and I am disciplined. So it's important to do that.
Speaker 1:It's really also important as well to make sure that you've got healthy snacks, healthy meals, prepared in advance. It's really important that nutrition nutrition is an integral part of just um building those healthy habits. So you know your snacks, your fruit that goes in the bag, the nuts um, I won't mention the noughties. We will have a few naughty things, but anyway, if you have a balance of more healthy snacks and healthy meals and everything's planned out, then your day will run seamlessly. It will run seamlessly. You know what you're doing in terms of your daily exercise. Your activity gets in the diary, you've got the reminders. You wake up in the morning, you've got your daily mantras. You've got your snacks, you've got your meals prepared. You come back to your work environment, you go to work and you're more focused and you're more disciplined when it comes to work because you set yourself up for success and, as I said, you know, don't worry if you drop off at one point.
Speaker 1:What's the most important thing is is persistent. Be persistent. Be persistent in the pursuit of your exercise goals and you're changing your work-life balance. Be persistent and build consistency and build everything into your daily schedule. So it's seamless, it runs seamlessly, and I'm just going to end by just talking about really some of the health benefits of just changing your work-life balance and getting more exercise into your daily schedule as part of your commitment to your body and to yourself. So that's coming right up.
Speaker 1:And if you're liking what you're hearing, then please, please, please, press like, share with friends and please add comments. If you've got, you know, if you've got, if anything I've said, you would like to add something. You may have your own daily rituals that it may be great to share with me. I'd love to hear them and to share with others. Please interact. I would love some interaction, because this is all about sharing, just sharing experiences. That all that's all I'm trying to do. My life was going downhill fast and I really needed to do something to change around. Uh, so, and you know, just develop the courage to come out and just share that. I'm not always this happy, smiley person and sometimes life does get me down. So we're just going to end, I think, on just talking about just a few real health benefits to just getting the exercise in. You probably know it all, but you know what. We can't hear it too many times.
Speaker 1:So what impact does working out in the morning have on your productivity throughout the rest of the day? So when we exercise and I'm sure you know this it increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain which sort of produces cognitive functioning, things like it helps with memory and problem solving and just planning all of those things. I've seen a real difference in my own work. When I get in from the gym in the morning and I sit down to work, it increases my mental clarity. Mental clarity is much sharper now than it's been for a very long time and my focus. So when I sit down I'm alert, I'm awake and I've got my diary and know what's happening and I can just start. I can just get started straight away.
Speaker 1:Morning workouts sort of increases the production of those neurotransmitters like dopamine. That really enhances your mood. And when I do work out in the morning I just feel a lot more positive, you know. I just feel a lot more upbeat, ready to embrace the day. My interactions with people just go so much more smoothly, I'm in a happy place. It's great to be a happy place when you're working right and that happiness for me, the benefit of the exercise, just sustains throughout the whole day, that happy mood. Dopamine really, really, really helps me to just enhance my mood throughout the day, which makes me more productive in my work.
Speaker 1:Now, I think stress reduction has got to be one of the benefits of exercise on a daily basis. And if you're in a job and most jobs these days you know are stressful, you know, if you're, whatever you're doing, even you know, doesn't matter what you're doing professional jobs stacking in a supermarket there are levels of stress. Now there's so much accountability, um, but I found that um, just exercising in the morning, as as just in the morning, so just helped to reduce my stress levels throughout the day. They really really have. I've also found that um in terms of time management, uh, because of my energy levels have been boosted, I've now can actually produce double the work in the time that I had been, you know, unexpected in a way.
Speaker 1:I knew that it would likely improve my work productivity, but I really found that just with just sustained activity and exercise every morning, I'm just getting through the work in half the time, just with the mental agility and just the focus and the discipline of the exercise first, first in the morning, followed by the discipline of work, building in adequate rest, getting enough sleep, good nutrition. Everything coming together is making me feel that my life is far more balanced than it ever has before. So, if nothing else, guys, I really want you to think about work-life balance as something that is within your control, and it starts with your mindset and the why, why you need to shift that balance, so that there is more time for you, that your work isn't taking over your life and that you're just going to be in a happier place. And because you're happier, you know the health benefits, you're going to be fitter, you're going to be stronger. Choose sports that can develop your coordination, your agility, build your muscle strength, just cardiovascular, just build everything. Choose different sports that's going to promote different health benefits or physical benefits in your body and that is going to actually make a massive difference in how you approach your life.
Speaker 1:It's just me, you know. This is just my experience sharing with you. Let me know what you think. I hope you've enjoyed the episode. Do it now, don't overthink it. Put your body before your work and you'll be a much happier person, and so will the people around you. Take care till next time. Thanks for tuning in to Diary of a Working Woman. I hope you found this episode as motivating and uplifting as I did. Please follow me at at do a podcast on TikTok and Instagram. For now, I want to say bye, bye, and keep striving to be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be, wearing all the many hats that working women do, sending you love.