HISMD: Buyer, Mid-Sized Production Co. & Farmer

Married. Kid-free. Hybrid – 4d/w in office. Wisconsin. Late 40s.

This "How I Structure My Day" Series started from an Instagram post I did about my own life, under which a woman asked if it would be possible to see how women working a more full-time, traditional job did it. I asked women to share, and, man, have people responded. The goal is to show how women from different industries, with and without kids, with and without partners, with family living with/near them and not, wfh to 1+ hour commutes, etc. structure their day. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I do!

The Snapshot

• Partner: Yes (3 hr daily RT commute 4 days a week)

• Children: No

• Monday WFH; in office the rest of the week

• Wisconsin

• Late 40s

Typical Morning

• M&F wake up around 530am-ish.

• Mondays I WFH, so I get dressed to go outside and let the chickens out, check on the cows and fluff up their food (in winter) and find them out in the pasture in the spring/summer/fall. After I get in the house, I have time to make a cold brew and take a shower/get dressed and get to my office upstairs.

• T-Th alarm goes off at 345am and I do the same checking of the cows and chickens, cold brew, shower, dress, pack lunches and head out the door. I usually roll into work around 7.

• Fridays my husband is off of work so I can just shower and get ready for work without the outside time. Still get into the office around 7.

Morning "Make Life Easier" Hacks

• I'm not really a morning person so I make sure I prep as much as I can for the next day the night before. I always have a pitcher of coffee brewing in the fridge, and I pick all of my outfits either on Sunday or at the beginning of the month. I'm lucky that I have a super casual workplace so unless I have a supplier meeting, I don't usually have to dress up too much.

What my work day looks like

• Most mornings start with emails and reading commodity reports, checking on various deliveries, accounts and vendors. That can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours depending on the day and what's happened in production overnight.

• Meetings are scheduled in 30-min chunks to avoid wasting time and delegated work hours are scheduled the Friday of the week before, so I have random hours spread thru the week to concentrate on solo work.

• Solo work includes researching potential vendors, working on monthly spreadsheets and meeting notes, reading up on tariff news and trying to respond to executive questions on where we forecast commodity pricing going over the next 3,6,9 months.

Lunch/Snacks

• Lunch starts at 1130 for most people around here.

• We have a cafe on campus and a coffee shop so I can run over and grab some goodies if I'd like.

• Usually, I just eat at my desk and spend at least 30 minutes reading a personal book.

Breaks

• Scheduled no, but I do take breaks when I need them.

• If I have to get away to think out an issue, I'll take a walk around campus or head over to a different department to discuss the issue with a co-worker.

Leaving work

• 1545 to 1600 I have to be out.

Transition out of work mode

• I try not to do corporate work after I get home so I turn on when I get into the parking lot and turn off when I get into the parking lot. It's like a switch in my head.

• If I have to make dinner, I will still answer work emails and calls, but if we are having leftovers I head out to the barn without my phone as soon as I get home. It's a natural transition.

After work hours

• I make dinner and lunches

• Take care of all of the animals with my husband

• Prep for the next day

• Take at least 60 minutes to read each night

• Sometimes I scroll through social media which I really shouldn't do as it messes with my sleep

Nightime non-negotiables

• All dishes must be done and put away, table cleared off. I can't sleep if dishes are in the sink.

• I also make sure my face is washed, teeth brushed and jams on before I even sit down for the evening. If I sit down, I'm not getting back up.

Afternoon/evening “make life smoother” tips

• I have a few contingency plans if things go off the rails at night due to farming situations. Pre-frozen meals and 5 min lunches/dinners. Sometimes things just happen so making sure that my husband is set for the day is one less thing that we both have to worry about. If things really get deep, I can always work from home the next day without issue.

Things you do for fun/yourself during the week

• I'm a reader so that's what I do to relax before I go to bed.

• I'm also a part of a couple of book clubs.

• I grow flowers for wholesale, so I spend a lot of time out in the garden or greenhouse starting, growing and packaging flowers.

Sharing the load with a partner

• I do the domestic chores and cooking dinner, he does the farm maintenance, meal preps his breakfast and snacks every week and takes care of all of the yard and pasture work.

• We both do chores in the evening and bale hay in the summer.

  • I usually start daily chores, and he joins when he gets home and if I finish before he gets home then he's off for the night.

  • He and his uncles start cutting and baling hay in the summer while I'm at work and I help out if they are still working when I get home.

• He typically does the major feeding on Fridays when I'm at work.

• I take care of the flower farm.

Outsourcing

• I have weekly grocery delivery on Mondays and use Mealime for meal planning. Those two combined ensure I don't have to think about what I am making for the week.

• I order all of my books online from the library so I can just run in and pick them up.

Exercise/Body Movement

• Farm work daily includes pushing around big cows and lifting heavy things.

• I try to walk as much as I can at work during the day and sometimes even get an hour walk in evenings.

Anything extra the sharer wants to share

• When I write out what I do on a daily/weekly basis it looks like a lot, but we've put systems into the farm that have made chores easier, faster and safer.

• Almost every evening before we go into the house for the night, we spend time sitting together on a bench we got for our wedding 12 years ago. Sometimes we sit quiet, sometimes talking or watching YouTube videos, watching nature pass by or playing with the cats. We never argue on the bench.

That’s a wrap for this one!

Thank you so much to this woman for generously sharing.

A reminder of the ground rules to ensure women continue wanting to share about their days and feel safe doing so.

• Encouraging comments always welcome!

• If you have questions or even hang-ups about what someone shared, you are welcome to ask a question for the sharer in the same kind, genuinely curious way you would if you were looking at that woman in her eyes. She might respond through me.

• If comments are judge-y or mean-spirited, I reserve the right to delete comments. I can handle being criticized about my own work here (and even still, to a degree – I’m also a person), but I go into full mama bear mode when people come after my people – including women who are being vulnerable and sharing in the first place.

• Thanks to the vast majority of people who are so kind!

New here? Welcome!

I’m Kelly Nolan, an attorney-turned-time management strategist and mom of two. I teach the Bright Method, a realistic time management system designed for professional working women. In addition to this fun new series, I share bite-sized time management strategies on Instagram. Thanks for being here!

After experiencing overwhelm as a young patent litigator in Boston, I figured out a time management system to help me show up in the ways that I wanted to at work and at home – without requiring my brain to somehow magically remember it all. I now teach other professional working women how to manage their personal, family, and career roles with less stress and more calm clarity using realistic time management strategies. My system, the Bright Method, has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, and my work has been published in Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, and more. Learn more on my website, come learn bite-sized strategies with me on Instagram, or jump into my free 5-day program.

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