Digitally She Does It Podcast

EPISODE 116: Embracing the chaos of business and life!

• Karen Davies • Season 1 • Episode 116

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In this week’s episode of The Digitally She Does It Show, I’m talking about something so many of us experience but don’t always talk about — how to balance a chaotic life while building the business of your dreams.

In this episode, I’ll walk you through the mindset shifts and practical tools that have helped me along the way — from the power of time blocking to the importance of slowing down (even when your to-do list feels never-ending). And most importantly, I’ll talk about why giving yourself grace — especially on the hard days when everything feels tough!

We’ll also chat about how asking for help isn’t a weakness — it’s a strength. And how sometimes, maintaining momentum means knowing when to pause, breathe, and reset rather than pushing through the burnout.

So if you’re feeling like life is a bit messy right now, know you’re not alone. This episode is here to remind you that you can embrace the chaos, find your rhythm, and keep moving forward in a way that feels good — not just for your business, but for you as a whole person.

Grab a coffee, pen and notebook and let’s have a heart-to-heart about how to thrive in the messiness of life and business!


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Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello, and welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show. This is episode one one six. And in today's episode, I'm talking about balance and what that may look like when you're trying to run a business, have a family, and just enjoy life in general. So let's jump right in, and let's get started. Welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show. 

I am your host, Karen, and I'm here to lift the lid on what it actually takes to create a successful business. If you are an ambitious creative ready to build a business on your own terms and without compromise, then this podcast is perfect for you. With my award winning approach to marketing marketing and expert knowledge in creating online courses, this show will leave you feeling inspired, energized, and ready to bring those big dreams to life.

Karen Davies [00:00:51]:
Join me each week for a dose of motivation and marketing know how along with actionable step by step strategies to help you accelerate your business's growth. So let's dive in, and don't forget to subscribe to all my upcoming episodes, which drop every Wednesday. Hello and welcome. 

Thank you for joining me today for another episode. I am your host, Karen, and I really do appreciate you hitting that play button to listen to today's episode. So today I'm talking about balance and what that may look like when you are juggling all the things. But before I do, I want to dive in and talk about the Digital Creators Hub. This is your one stop shop for getting started online.

Karen Davies [00:01:41]:
Now I've included lots of things in the hub. I've got tools. I've got templates. I've got training. So if you are thinking about taking your business online and creating online offers that you can sell on repeat and scale, but you have no idea where to start and you find the whole thing completely overwhelming, then head on over to the hub. It's completely free. Just go to www.karen-davies.com/hub. There's no better time than now to get started with your online business.

Karen Davies [00:02:13]:
The online space is growing exponentially, so why not make the most of the opportunity that's available to you and your business? Okay. So let's dive back into today's episode. And today, I am talking about balance and what that may look like when you're juggling all the things. So, if you're running a business, maybe you have a family, or maybe you're just trying to enjoy some kind of life outside of those things, then what does balance look like? And, I'm also going to share some tips that may help you through the holidays, especially if, like me, you have young children and you're just trying to stay sane. 

If you are listening to this live, so as the episode drops, then you know we are in the Easter holidays, which means that the kids are off and life is that little bit more chaotic. So I think between running a business, being a mom, and trying to maintain the house and do all the things, it is quite full on at the moment. Till yesterday, I stepped out of the office for the afternoon because I decided to take my youngest into London so we can have some time together. It's trying to occupy the children and find things that they enjoy doing.

Karen Davies [00:03:38]:
My girls are at an age where my eldest is enjoying going and spending time with her friends. So yesterday, she went off and had a sleepover around her friend's house, whereas my youngest is just a little bit too young for that at the moment. She's not quite there. She's heading on over to secondary school in September. So it's been really nice to have a little bit of time with her and just have some one on one time because they're growing so fast and and that, you know, I can't believe I've just celebrated my daughter's eleventh birthday. And then next month, I've got my daughter my other daughter's thirteenth birthday. And I remember when they were babies and people used to say to me, enjoy every moment because it just whizzes by. And it really has.

Karen Davies [00:04:27]:
I can't believe that my eldest is soon to be a teenager and we're we're now heading towards the reality that we're gonna have both children in secondary school. So when the holidays hit, I think it's really important to take some time out, spend some time with the kids, and enjoy some family time because I think that's ultimately why we're doing all of this for anyway. So today, I just wanted to have that conversation about really what it's like to maintain a business, to keep your business thriving and growing whilst trying to keep the family happy, maintaining all the things that you need to do as well. So if you're like me and you've got a home, trying to manage that and then have some kind of life outside, you know, see friends and do things that kind of take you away from work and and put that fun back in your life as well. Because when you're juggling everything, sometimes it can really just feel like work all of the time. So trying to make time for the things that you enjoy so that you get to have that balance. Now I know for me, the concept of balance has always been this thing of trying to keep everything going, but trying to do it at a level that, obviously, I'm happy with. And I am a perfectionist, and I do like to sort of maintain control around things that I do.

Karen Davies [00:05:55]:
But I think over the years, what I've come to realize is that balance is really about shifting your focus and then prioritizing things as when you need to. I don't think it's now about making sure you're getting everything done. I mean, when I was younger, I used to spend so much time trying to, at the weekend, catch up with everything, trying to do all the things ready to get ready for the for the for the week ahead. And and I think these days, I think it's just unrealistic. So now I only try and focus on the things that actually need doing. I mean, of course, there's always gonna be things that that have to get done. You know, you wanna live in a clean house and you need to have food in the fridge and you need to, you know, do the washing and all of those sort of, like, day to day jobs. But there are things that don't necessarily need to be done every week, and then it's identifying what that looks like so that you're not spending all your time just on that hamster wheel of working.

Karen Davies [00:06:55]:
So when you're not working in your business and you're not trying to maintain a happy family life, then you're working in your home or wherever. So it's just trying to really kind of maintain some kind of balance, but also so that you're fulfilled as well. You get to enjoy time off and some me time, which I think is really important. Now I am by no means an expert in this. Today, I'm just going to talk about the things that are working for me that I find really help me. I am sure there are many people out there that just do this better. But what I do know is that our life is really busy. We have lots of different things going on.

Karen Davies [00:07:41]:
This year alone, I mean, what we're in April now, I don't actually think I've had a a quiet weekend. Every single weekend, we've had things happening that we've had to make time for, whether it's things in the calendar, family staff, just, you know, whatever that might be. February, I was in New York, so that took up what felt like a large proportion of February. And, yeah, it's just been really busy, and I can't believe we're in April already. And I definitely can't believe that the kids are off again. It's mad. I feel like I blink and and there's another school holiday. But I but I think it's just trying to kind of manage everything in a way so that you don't end up leading to burnout because I've been burnt out and it's not nice.

Karen Davies [00:08:32]:
And if you can avoid it, you really want to because the thing about burnout is that it creeps up on you. And you think that you are okay and that everything's working fine and you're managing and coping with all the things. And then before you know it, you're exhausted, you're tired. You, you know, you lose kind of an enjoyment around the things that used to once give you joy and everything feels hard work. Everything feels like you're moving a boulder up a hill. Even the things that, as I said, you you you would ordinarily enjoy doing. So I think we have to look at what we have going on in our worlds and how we can maintain some kind of balance, that also means that we are taken care of as well. Because one thing I do know is that if we're not in a good place, then that's gonna impact family life and all the things that you're trying to maintain.

Karen Davies [00:09:37]:
And that's the last thing that you want to have to happen. So I think balance really is about being flexible and tuning into what needs your attention most in that moment. So it's not about trying to do everything and be superwoman and trying to keep everything and everyone happy. It's about just tuning into the priorities. So for me, some days my business gets more of me because maybe I've got a big launch happening or I've got a deadline that I must hit. And then other days, I find that my family needs me that bit more because maybe, like, right now, it's the school holidays or maybe one of the kids is under the weather and they have to have a bit of time off school. Or maybe it's because I need to spend time with them because that's what I need. I need to be fully present with them so I have to take time out of what it is I'm doing.

Karen Davies [00:10:39]:
And then there are some days where it just comes down to survival. Last week, I had a horrific week, actually. I wasn't feeling very well at all. My hormones were all over the place, and it doesn't happen to me every month, but what I'm finding is that as I'm getting that little bit older, I I am noticing changes and those changes affect my energy levels, how I feel. I have moments where I love what I'm doing and then I hate what I'm doing and it's just a real roller coaster of a ride. So sometimes it is just about getting through the day, grabbing a coffee, accepting that, you know what? The house is gonna be messy for a while, and I'm not gonna get through my to do list because realistically, I'm not in the right head space to deal with those things. And I think it's also about being okay with that as well and recognizing that sometimes I am all over it. My house is spotless.

Karen Davies [00:11:42]:
I have the washing done. I have the fridge stocked up. My business is thriving. I'm I'm winning or I feel like I'm winning. And then other times, it's an I I feel like I'm anything but. So I think sometimes we just have to give ourselves permission to be okay with the messy because life is messy and sometimes the way we show up in what we're doing is messy as well and that's okay. We are not failing because you don't fail all the while, you keep going. But when you're pill pulled in a million directions all of the time, it can be exhausting.

Karen Davies [00:12:23]:
And so sometimes being okay with having time off, taking time out, and just accepting that right now things are not perfect, but I've just got to get through the day. As I said, that is perfectly okay. We are human. We're not robots, and we need to accept that. We can be so hard on ourselves. And I've I've seen this with other sort of entrepreneur friends as well where we we sort of talked about this, where we are all we're we're just trying to spin all those plates and keep everything going all of the time. And as I said, it's exhausting. And we're all trying to do it at a million miles an hour.

Karen Davies [00:13:05]:
And so one thing when something sort of drops, we feel we're failing. We feel like we're not good enough. Like, you know, we we miss an email in something that we've gotta respond to. Oh my god. We we we're failing at our business. And it's just not that at all. It's just the fact that in that season of life, in that moment, there's just too much to have to deal with and so something has to give. We are just doing life.

Karen Davies [00:13:33]:
That's all it is. We we are just doing the best we can in that moment. And I think life, especially when you are building a business and raising a family and trying to be human with a little joy and maintaining your sanity, it is messy. But it's also beautiful as well because sometimes amazing things happen when life is messy. So, I wanna share the things that are helping me right now because I don't think for a moment I'm alone in how I feel. Now the first thing that I would recommend is time blocking. I do this actually both in my business and in sort of my my home life. I block out chunks of time, and I I focus on tasks during that time.

Karen Davies [00:14:28]:
And it might be one task at a time. So what I do is I I may say, look, right, the next twenty minutes, I'm gonna get this thing done, and I'm only going to focus on that one thing. So what that gives me is specific time where I could be really focused and I can channel into the thing that I'm doing, and I can I know the kids are going to be entertained whether they're watching a film, whether they're on their iPad, whether they're talking to their friends? I know that I can get twenty minutes of time to focus in on one task. So because I know that, I make sure that in the morning when I write down my to do list, I am prioritising the key task that needs to be done first. So when I'm blocking out that time, so I have that twenty minutes, I know that I'm focusing that twenty minutes in the areas that need to be focused. So even if during a space of a day, I'm being into I'm constantly being interrupted because of the kids, whether they're hungry, they're thirsty or or whatever, I know that within twenty minute sort of time periods, I can get things done. So at the end of the day, I can I feel like I've been productive? So, time blocking for me works really well. And even if you only get a few things done, at least you know the things that you have had that you have done are your priority tasks.

Karen Davies [00:16:02]:
So I I think I highly recommend time blocking if you can. And I all also do this for for sort of housework as well. So if I need to do the hoovering or I need to prepare a meal or I need to kind of do some mining or or whatever it might be, I time block twenty minutes. Because also twenty minutes doesn't fill that long a time, so I know that I can get a lot done in that time. So, definitely check out time blocking. The other thing that is helping right now is the permission to slow down. Now, this one is hard for me because I'm used to working at million miles an hour all of the time because I love momentum and I love feeling productive, but I've had to remind myself constantly that slower seasons are still seasons of growth. So, even in this period where my tension is split, I know that just by focusing in on the task that I need to focus on, I'm still moving forward.

Karen Davies [00:17:06]:
There's still growth happening. It might not be happening at the rate that I would like it, but it's still happening. And I think because of that, I know that I'm I'm still moving forward so that I I I'm okay with that. I've given my patient mission to slow down, enjoy spending that time with family, but also I know that my business is still moving forward. So that helps me as well. So give yourself permission to be okay with taking some time off or taking a step back or only moving your business forward slowly. It doesn't it doesn't matter. Some people like to take the the total time off.

Karen Davies [00:17:51]:
So, for example, with the Easter holidays, I one of my friends, she always books off the time so she's not in the office. I personally don't do that because I like to maintain momentum, but also I love what I do as well. So balance to me is about having time with the family, but also time in my business as well because I need that and I recognize I need that. So it's about I think it's really about finding what works for you. And then thirdly, what I recommend is if you need it, ask for help. Now, I know that this can be a challenge for so many people but help can come in so many ways. It doesn't just have to mean paying for support. So what I mean by that is if you have a family member that can step in and maybe look after the kids for an hour, that may go a long way just to give you a bit of time so you can do a bit of work or catch up in areas where you feel you're a little bit behind.

Karen Davies [00:18:59]:
Through the summer holidays and through sort of the holiday periods, my mom has our girls on a Sunday night and a Monday. She has done that now for a while, and that really helps us because what it means is whatever happens in a space of a week, we always have a Monday. And for me, I usually schedule Mondays to be my on the business day where I actually get work done for my business. So the fact that the kids go to my mom frees up my time, and I can focus in on what it is I need to do. So that really helps us. Now the kids don't go to their grandparents a lot because we're we're a really close family, and I I, you know, the kid the kids obviously wanna be at home. But those those that Sunday night and that Monday really does help. Sunday night, it gives me and my husband time to go and do something.

Karen Davies [00:19:57]:
So we could go for a meal, go to the cinema, just go and have a bit of one on one time. And then Mondays, like I said, I get time in my business to focus in on my work. So it it's a it's a happy balance there because whatever happens in the in for the rest of the week, I know at least I've had Monday. So if you can, try and find some kind of help to support you. Now, as I said, help can come in many ways. It could be that you reach out to your friend, go for a coffee, you know, talk about challenges, you know, meet up with another mum or it could be go and join a group or go online and join a forum, or a community with people that are like you. I'm a part of sort of lots of different communities because I network. I have a cat an accountability group, and I've got sort of business friends with that as well.

Karen Davies [00:20:54]:
And last week when I wasn't feeling very well, the one thing that really helped me were conversations with my friends. And I had this amazing conversation with one of my clients who, honestly, by the end of the conversation, I was on cloud nine because and we weren't talking about work, we were just talking about mundane things, but it really did lift my energy and made me feel so much better. Because I think as humans I think we need to feel connected. I think sometimes we crave that. So it's important to surround yourself with people that are like you, that get the journey that you're on and ultimately want to support you as well. So ask for help as and when you need it. If you need to go and book a cleaner because maybe you need a cleaner to help you clean the house, then do it. I, for a long time, had a cleaner.

Karen Davies [00:21:48]:
We're in between cleaners at the moment, and I will be getting a new cleaner shortly. But that alone gives me time back, and that time, I can spend moving the needle in my business. So, find the help that you need and put that help in place because that alone is gonna make you feel so much better because it's you're gonna be sharing the load and and there's power in that as well. So, with all that in mind, I just wanted to kind of really finish off with, sometimes we just have to give ourselves grace. We have to acknowledge that we can't always be a million miles an hour all of the time, and that balance can come in many different forms. But I think we have to identify what that means to us. For me, as I said, balance is about being able to spend time with family whilst being able to enjoy time with the kids and also spending time connecting with my friends and doing things outside my my work as well. What is balance to you? It could be giving yourself time to go for a walk.

Karen Davies [00:23:04]:
It could be being able to go off to the gym or go for a swim or read a book or listen to a podcast whilst maintaining other areas of your life as well. I don't think balance is about being perfect. I think it's about giving yourself permission to shift, adapt, and then show up the best that you can with what you've got. Because life sometimes is not easy. Running a business is not easy. Being a parent is not easy. So we have to give ourselves some grace and we have to be gentle with ourselves as well because we are exactly where we're meant to be. You are exactly where you are meant to be.

Karen Davies [00:23:53]:
So give yourself some grace, enjoy the time that you may be able to spend with your family, and just know that your business is always going to be there. You're always going to be moving it forward. Sometimes it's just about taking a step back to spend time with the people you love or do the things that you love because that's gonna fulfill you and give you that joy that you need in your life to keep you moving forward. It's okay for life to be messy. Remember beautiful things come out of the mess. If today's chat has resonated with you then I'd love it if you could share it with a friend or others who you may think may need to hear this. And, if you would I would also love you to leave me a review either on Spotify or YouTube because it will help other entrepreneurs like yourself find my show. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode.

Karen Davies [00:25:07]:
I hope you found this episode of value and of course, please do feel free to share with others who you may think will also benefit from listening to today's episode. If today's discussion has sparked some inspiration and maybe you are eager to get started with creating your business online, then please do check out my website, www.karen-davies.com. I have free resources. I have tools and training designed to help you get started online. 

And if you are ready to take the next step and want to learn more about how to create an online course, then come and join my all inclusive membership, Sell Your Brilliance Online, which is designed to guide you through the the steps of creating your very first online course with confidence and with ease. Head on over to my website, www.karen-davies.com/membership. I will be back with another episode next week, but until then, I'm wishing you a great week. I will be back next week with another episode, but until then have a great week.