EarlyMorning

Early Mornings

The bottom left picture was taken at 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. This day is my rest workout day and a day for me to catch up on my email or any other items I didn’t get to in the week. I started working on them at 5:00 a.m. Gracie is my early riser and usually between 6:00 to 6:30 a.m., she will come into my office or downstairs when I’m working out and want some cuddles. It’s a little dark in my office at home because about twenty minutes before this, Vivienne woke up. I turned the light off in my office so she would think no one was awake yet and lay back down. Luckily she went back to sleep!

So, what does my typical day look like?

  • 4:00-4:30 a.m.: Wake up
  • 4:35-5:30 a.m.: Computer work. This could include emails, letters to referring doctors, QuickBooks, Invisalign treatment planning, office task list, reviewing the monthly and daily task lists, reviewing radiology reports, planning for staff items such as birthdays and anniversaries, and the list goes on
  • 5:30-6:30 a.m.: Yoga and Peloton run/bike ride
  • 7:00-7:30 a.m.: Leave for the office
  • 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.: See my awesome patients and work with my work family. In between having fun with my patients, I have models of teeth to mark for bracket placement, checking bracket placement, designing cases for in house clear aligners, trying to keep up with the previous list of all of the items above, lunches with colleagues to review mutual patients, sticky notes my staff gives me, answering any questions they have that arise, radiology reports
  • 5:00-6:00 p.m.: Sometimes at 6:30 p.m., I am still working on all of these things
  • 6:30-7:00 p.m.: Try my hardest to be home by this time
  • 7:00-9:00 p.m.: Family time with my girls and husband
  • 9:30 p.m.: Hopefully sleeping

Note, I didn’t mention any of the things that need to be done for the kiddos such as processing and keeping up with paperwork for Grace’s school, school events, scheduling appointments etc. My “it takes a village” post will be coming soon!

Why do I get up at 4:30 a.m. everyday, even on the weekends if I can? Because that’s what running a business and having a family looks like. It’s not perfect. Work-life balance is a constant struggle for any working mom today. I told my staff one morning at huddle, I have to get up at 4:30 a.m. so that I can start with 200% in the tank. The first 100% of my day primarily goes to my patients and their families. The next 100% is stored up for when I come home and my two girls come running to me, excited to spend some quality time with their Mommy!