Me, Zain and Dino before work/school one day 😉 

 

I’ve been getting some questions on what a typical day or week looks like around here so thought I would share! I always assume no one cares and don’t typically share the mundane day to day on social media but once I thought about it, I do love seeing this from other people so here we go. 

For a little background, I work as a dentist in the public school system for a private company. I go to schools in Jefferson County (Louisville) and travel up to an hour to other counties. My assistant has a mobile dental unit that is set up and we perform everything from exams to cleanings, fillings, root canals, extractions, crowns—you name it. We are largely serving a population that doesn’t have access to dental care and we are usually the only dentist they see. 

When I previously worked in private practice in Chicago I saw mostly children and loved it. This job opened up right when I found out I was moving back and it’s been amazing. I work anywhere from 2-3 days a week during the school year. It’s wonderful that I have the summer’s off to be with Zain and that his school schedule lines up with mine. He’s in school 3 days a week so it works out nicely! All my previous jobs in Chicago entailed 5-6 days a week, working Saturday’s every weekend or every other weekend and late hours so this has been a real gift.

I also run this blog which takes a good chunk of time even after outsourcing tasks and hiring an agent. Most of my friends blog full time and if I could dedicate more time to it I would but it’s just not feasible. I don’t want to give up dentistry or my time with Zain, so it’s constantly a balancing act. 

Trevor has to be at work pretty early (at the hospital by 7am) so I’m solo in the morning but he is often able to pick up Zain from school and almost always around in the evenings. We usually have dinner as a family and Trevor often does bath time with Zain. His call schedule can be hit or miss and when’s he’s on call for weeks in a row it can stretch us thin. I have no idea how single parents do it, praise you all!

I thought I would share what my schedule usually looks like when I’m blogging and also doing dentistry. The blog days are obviously much more flexible which is wonderful but also seem to always spill over into other times. For example, it’s 8:51pm on a Monday night and I’m writing this post. I just try to take it as it comes and not put too much pressure on myself. When I briefly blogged full time, I hated the pressure to produce content that I wasn’t passionate about so this is what is working for us now. 

 

Typical Dental Day

6am: Wake up, shower, get dressed for work

6:30am: Get Zain up between now and 7am. He’s usually an early riser but sometimes I will have to get him up depending on how far I’m driving for work. 

7am: Make breakfast for Zain and sometimes myself. I still do IF unless it’s an ‘extraction only’ day. There are some facilities where I pull adult teeth all day and on those days I eat breakfast. 

7:30: Play with Zain and get him dressed for school, pack his lunch.  

8am: Drop off Zain at school. 

8am – 4:30pm: Usual workday. My hours vary depending on how many kids I’m seeing, their school schedule and my drive. 

5pm: Either Trevor or I pick Zain up from school. 

6pm: Make dinner – on my dental days I try to have something prepped and ready to go. 

7/7:30pm: Give Zain a bath, read books and put him to bed. 

8pm: Catch up on blog emails, watch Bravo 😉

9pm: BED

 

Typical Blog Day

6am: Wake up, get dressed for the gym

6:30am: Make sure new blog content is live, share to social media, quick check of emails

7am: Cook Zain breakfast, play together and drinks LOTS of coffee

8:45: Head to the gym for class. My gym has a great daycare so I either take Zain with me or my mom comes over to hang with him. If my mom had her way she would watch him 5 days a week so I love them having alone time. 

9:15-10:15am: Workout

10:30am: Grocery shop/run errands

Noon: Feed Zain lunch and break my fast

1pm: Put Zain down for a nap. 

1-3pm: Write new content, answer emails, send invoices, pin content to Pinterest, gather campaign analytics.

3:30-5pm: Usually try to get out with Zain. Either the park or a play date with a friend! I feel like he get’s bored with just me. 

5:30pm: Cook dinner with Zain’s help 😉

6pm: Dinner

7pm: Give Zain a bath, read books and put him to bed. 

8pm: Catch up on blog emails, watch Bravo 😉

9pm: BED

 

Obviously everyday can vary but this is mostly what a typical day looks like. If Zain is in school on a day that I’m not doing dentistry, I can get way more done for the blog and will also try to get shoots knocked out. I wish I had a more consistent shoot schedule but it’s more so whatever works. Trevor has become a pretty great photographer which is helpful since we will sometimes shoot in the evenings at home or random times over the weekend while Zain is taking a nap and my mom is over. 

I am so lucky that we have so much help and support around us. Trevor is a very present dad and no matter his schedule, he’s always there to do his part. We also couldn’t survive without my mom and she’s probably the only reason this blog is still alive. She always saves me when I have work commitments or need last minute help.

It really takes a village and we are all doing our best! Hope this was insightful and always reach out if you have any questions!