We Hear You!

Being a woman is not easy. Not in the cinematic, slow-motion, “having it all” way, but in the very real, lived-in, why-is-it-only-8am kind of way. And if no one has said it to you lately, you deserve a proper pat on the shoulder for managing the most demanding organisation there is: life.

The day usually starts with negotiation. You stand in front of the mirror doing quick mental maths, what can be skipped, what absolutely can’t. The full skincare routine quickly becomes aspirational. Mascara, however, is non-negotiable. Mascara will do. It always does. Somewhere behind you, a child is being dressed in clothes that are technically clean, socially acceptable and definitely not ironed on purpose. Socks appear as if by magic. Hair is brushed just enough to pass inspection. You move fast, not because you want to, but because you have to.

By 7:30am — an ungodly hour no meeting should start at — you’re already on your first call, standing in the kitchen with coffee in hand. Camera off, mute on, listening carefully while also answering questions about lunch boxes, missing jumpers and why today is suddenly the day they hate that coat. You’re present, focused, professional, just from the kitchen.

The walk to school becomes a masterclass in multitasking. Earphones in, you nod along to discussions about priorities, roadmaps and alignments, while mentally checking whether today is PE day, if the school form was signed, and wondering how every other parent looks so unbothered. You drop your child off with a hug, power-walk home, open your laptop and sit down, ready to properly start the day.

That’s when it hits you, the hot flush. Hormones. You forgot them. Again. A quick internal audit follows: coffee — yes. Child delivered — yes. Meeting partially followed — yes. Hormones — absolutely not. You glance at the clock and pause. It’s only 8am.

And suddenly it makes sense why by mid-morning you might feel tired, distracted, sharp one minute and emotional the next. Not because you’re failing. Not because you’re disorganised. But because you’ve already made dozens of decisions, switched roles endlessly, regulated emotions, yours and someone else’s and delivered results before most people have logged in.

So we hear you. We see the skipped steps, the kitchen Zoom calls, the forgotten reminders and the quiet resilience it takes just to make mornings work. Give yourself a real pat on the shoulder today. Not the polite one, the one that acknowledges the effort it takes to run this organisation called life.

And remember: if it’s only 8am and you’ve already survived all that, than you’re doing better than you think.