I’m pondering this question having spent the past hour doing last-minute planning for my son’s summer holiday childcare.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve joked with my fellow Reception parents – most of us new to this role – that I feel I’ve taken on a new job as Celebrity PA, negotiating the social calendar of my temperamental little VIP, liaising with his “people” and venues to ensure a full diary.
Part of me feels like, as a solo entrepreneur, I should be focusing on “real work” today (especially as I’m renting a desk at a coworking space) but this job needs doing, and nobody else is going to do it (it always seems to be the mums that get landed with this!)
So what IS work?
Back when I was pondering a career change, I read John Spencer Williams book Screw Work Lets Play and it completely revolutionised, for me, what a career could look and feel like.
“Wait, hang on, you can actually get paid to have fun and do what you care about?” At the time, before I'd experienced it for myself, it felt like an impossible dream.
If I’m honest, the career part of what I do often feels less like “work” than some of my other responsibilities.
With a young son (and this feels shameful to admit), I’ve started seeing the time I see clients and focus on my business as “me time” – a fun, welcome break from the hard work of parenting.
In the first year, I remember sharing sheepishly with a friend that I felt I’d landed in a job (mothering a young baby) that completely mismatched my skillset. Now, I’m having to draw on planning and organisation skills that are way beyond my natural leanings, and it definitely feels like WORK.
What part of your life feels more like work than work?
Do you wish your work felt more like play?
And anyone further down the parenting path than me, I’d love to hear how you manage the diaries of your little celeb!