I’ve ‘nailed’ the perfect work/life balance – without hiring a PA 

I founded the supplement brand Bare Biology in 2013 and since then my life has been pretty full on.

On top of my role as CEO, I am also a mum to teens, so it might seem hard to believe that I’ve nailed the perfect work/life balance – without a PA.

I carefully schedule my weeks and don’t allow people to put meetings in without checking with me – I could never have a PA running my diary.

Perfect work/life balance

I spend a good half an hour a week scheduling my time to make sure I’m in control of how my time is spent.

I think you have to be super organised and plan ahead to achieve it. You can’t have a good work/life balance if you’re all over the place. It does require self-discipline, but I hate feeling stressed or harassed, so I much prefer to be what some would consider “unrelaxed”. I feel relaxed when I own my time and headspace.

With my work life so finely tuned, the main challenges to my work/life balance are my teenagers. I get very agitated at them, because they are not at all organised.

Say HELLO! to your Second Act

HELLO!’s Second Act is a newsletter for women in midlife and beyond. It’s completely free to sign up and is a one-stop-shop for advice and inspiration on the issues our Second Act community have told us matter most: health, relationships, travel, menopause, divorce, careers, finance and more.

That said, my kids have always come first and I drop work stuff in a flash for them. If they’re not well or they’ve forgotten to tell me they’ve booked a haircut and need a lift to the station, it throws my carefully scheduled day off and then I get behind on work.

This used to stress me out when I didn’t have many people on my team, but I have a great team now as we’ve grown and been able to hire more people.

To combat the chaos of teens, the minute I get home after work I begin organising. I have clinically diagnosed OCD and being in control helps me manage my anxiety.

I don’t do anything until I’ve given my hands a good wash. It’s key to avoiding bugs and my OCD won’t allow me not to. After that, I unpack my work bag and make sure everything is neat and tidy, ready for the next day.

I hate dumping my stuff in the hallway and I normally also end up putting the kids’ shoes away too.

I probably sound super uptight (which I am, to be fair) but I find peace and harmony in things being in their place. It only takes 10 minutes or so and then I can relax and have dinner.

As well as being super organised, there are a few other ways I make sure my life runs like clockwork…

1. A capsule wardrobe

I try to decide what to wear the night before and I have a ‘uniform’ which involves a cashmere polo-neck and wide-leg trousers in the winter, and a shirt and wide-leg trousers or a shirt dress in the summer.

2. Reliable makeup

I wear the same makeup every day which takes me three minutes to do. I have short hair so I have to wash and blow-dry it daily.

3. Time for me

I need time to exercise, especially tennis. Tennis is my favourite thing to do and helps me relax and unwind like nothing else. I don’t like yoga (I’ve tried many times) – I’m quite competitive and I like higher-energy activities, so tennis does for me what yoga does for others.

© Shutterstock / PeopleImages.com – Yuri A

4. Healthy eating

I need time to eat healthy food. I never skip lunch and always sit down to proper food, away from my desk, and I take some time to relax.

© Tanja Ivanova

5. Strict work boundaries

I never work after dinner, I can’t bear it. I much prefer to get up early and work first thing. If I’m not working weekends or evenings, and have time to exercise and eat well, I’m happy.