662: A Day in My (Current) Life: Work, Kids, Health, and More

0:01Today's episode is sponsored in part by Revolve and Spectrum. Revolve is my all-time favorite place to shop for my dream wardrobe. Head to revolve.com forward slash gold digger to shop my favorites and get 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger. Spectrum business keeps your business connected with reliable service you can count on. Visit spectrum.com forward slash free for life to learn how you can get business internet free forever. As always, you can find all of our amazing deals in the show notes. Now let's get into it. okay I have been on this ruthless pursuit to purge any clothes that I'm not actually wearing like if I haven't reached for it in months it's gotta go I am trying to be really intentional about what I bring into my closet right now which means I am only buying pieces that I know I will actually wear and use revolve just gets it though I'm literally wearing my brown autri sneakers from there right now and my new suede purse it fits my laptop in it so it's basically a fancy shoulder bag that works for everything.

1:02I love finding pieces like that. Things that look good, but also work hard for my actual life. Their holiday shop is live right now with all the good stuff. Sparkly party dresses, cozy sets, cute gifts, everything you need for whatever is on your calendar. And it's all in one place, which makes shopping feel way less overwhelming. Whether it's a weekend away, a big night out, or a holiday party, your dream wardrobe is just one click away. Head to revolve.com forward slash gold digger shop my edit and take 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger fast two-day shipping easy returns it's literally the only place you need to shop from that's revolve.com forward slash gold digger to shop my favorites and get 15 % off your first order with the code gold digger offer available for a limited time so happy shopping I really try to get any super important work done before this window because chances are I'm going to be running in the house, grabbing a kid, getting sucked into family life for a little bit here.

2:00And I love that. Like I love that part of the flexibility of what I do and how I do it. Hey, my name is Jenna Kutcher and I am obsessed with all things, business, marketing numbers, and helping you to navigate both the messy and the magical seasons of this thing called life. I'm a small town mama who took a$300 camera, grew a successful photo biz. And now I work from home and run a seven figure online business. I teach you the tried and true secrets to building a career you adore. Shy away from the real talk? No way. Money, hardship, growth, loss, and marketing are all topics we discuss here. Think of this as your one-stop shop for happy hour with a gal pal mixed with business school.

2:38Pull up a seat, make sure you're cozy and get ready to be challenged and encouraged while you learn. This is the Gold Digger Podcast. All right. I cannot believe that I am recording this episode, but I actually am very excited to do this. I recently did a Q and a box on my Instagram stories and so many questions were just kind of around. What does a day in the life look like? What does the juggle look like? What are your household responsibilities? What do you have help with? What does it look like for you and Drew as teammates? What is your routine? And so many questions also about like, well, how much do you really work?

3:18And how much do you sleep at night. And it's really funny to me because when people ask me this, I feel like surely this is going to be the most boring episode ever, but you better believe that when I look at my own user habits, I love listening to when people talk about what their lives look like. Even if it is so unrelatable, even if it has nothing to do with anything that I want to do, I love hearing about people's health routines or their routines with work or parenthood or what their teams look like around them. So today we are peeling back the layer and I'm telling myself that this is just going to be a time capsule for me someday to listen to again, to remember this stage and season of my life.

4:04But if you are curious, if you are like me, let's walk through what a typical day in the life for Jenna Kutcher looks like today. Let me introduce you to a podcast you're going to love. It's called The Shine Online, and it's hosted by a former Gold Digger guest, Natasha Samuel, and brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Natasha interviews the brightest entrepreneurs to bring you no fluff advice, honest discussions about the mental health and lifestyle aspect of entrepreneurship, and actionable strategies and success stories of those who have mastered the art of shining online.

4:41Natasha just covered this topic I think you'd love to hear about. She talks about when you're ready to hire a social media manager and when you're not because hiring a social media manager isn't going to fix your social media problem if you're not ready and willing to show up and do the work to listen to the shine online wherever you get your podcasts. So one of the reasons why I have hesitated on even creating an episode like this is because for me, every day is different. I think part of that is my ADHD. I am someone who likes variety. I don't want to feel like boxed in or that I have too much structure in my life to me as a creative being.

5:24Structure feels like boxing myself in. But something that's different for me, especially right now in my life is that I have this different level of consistency. and I have different routines, unlike anything I've ever had before. And it's been this really interesting mix for me because again, I love variety, but I also crave having these routines, these rituals, these resets for me each day. And so it's kind of been like this blend of figuring out like, what is the balance of that? That doesn't feel constricting to me, but also like, how is this going to look when it comes to parented, when it comes to work, when it comes to marriage.

6:03And the other caveat here that I want to share is that in the past, when I've done episodes like this, I definitely had a more like black and white belief system when it came to structure. There were past episodes where I'd be like, I never work past 5 PM or I never work on the weekends. And I feel like there is so much more gray in my life, especially having kids that I will some nights check my email after dinner, or I will work when the kids are sleeping. And so I want to kind of lead off and like blanket statement this entire episode with two things. This is your invitation to one, ask yourself, what sort of season are you in?

6:51And what is it that you're needing more of? Is it more like black and white and boundaries in your life? or is your life calling you into more shades of gray? Because I think there are just different times in our lives that call for different things. And the second question or invitation that I have for you is, what could you create more consistency or routine around in the areas of your life that you might be neglecting or feeling urgent in? And I feel like when I look at these episodes and my life and the structure and the schedule, those two questions really helped me discern one, what am I going to get out of listening to Jenna talk about her life and what it looks like?

7:33But two, what do I need more of? Do I need more structure? Do I need more black and white? Do I need more clear boundaries or should I let things blend a little bit more? Is this season calling me to blend? So without further ado, and with a lot of hesitation. We're going to dive in. Now, I also just want to say before I dive in, I recognize that there are going to be aspects of what my life looks like right now that are highly unrelatable. I also recognize that there's a ton of privilege. I have an incredible partner who has given up his career and some of those aspirations surrounding that to be a stay at home parent.

8:13Like I have his support, which changes things. And I recognize that not a lot of people have those things. I also recognize that I have a job that gives me a lot of flexibility. I've built a business that gives me a lot of opportunity to kind of ebb and flow. And so I just want you to know that as I am sharing all of this, I understand that. And yet with your curious minds and with this desire to document my life as it is, as it is in this season, as it is in this year, I'm going to share this anyways. And so as always, when it comes to this very show, take what serves you, leave the rest behind.

8:56You know, if you have to say like, good for her, not for me, that's cool too. Amy Poehler taught me that line and I use it often. All right, let's dive in. So most days, my goal is to wake up at 7am. And I say my goal is because a lot of times Coco will wake up earlier than that, usually sometimes between 6, 630. She'll come to our bedroom in the morning. And one thing that has been amazing for us, and this is not a paid partnership or anything of this sort, is she has this little Tony box. It's basically this little speaker box that has different figurines that you can put on top of it. And there's like lots of Disney figurines and it has songs and it has these amazing stories.

9:36It tells the stories of like Elsa from Frozen or Belle from Beauty and the Beast. And one of the things that I love about this, it's screen-free. You can't go down any rabbit holes and she loves it. It uses her imagination. So a lot of times she'll saunter into our bedroom between six and 630. And that's when we'll say like, oh, go grab out your Tony box. And like, what are you going to listen to today? And so that's been amazing because it's given her a lot of independence in the morning and a lot of independent time. And it's so cute because we'll just watch her go line up all her little figurines and listen.

10:09And she also reads in the morning. And so we've just really been fostering as much independence as we can so that we can get as much sleep as we can. Quinn is an incredible sleeper and she sleeps through the night, which is such a blessing. and so generally speaking we don't have to wake her up until 7 a.m now lately drew will often wake up in the morning and get his workout in because once that happens his day gets going with the kids and it's hard for him to pull away and so that's kind of how the morning starts so 7 a.m is always like my goal time if i can be sleeping until 7 a.m oh that's awesome then between the hours of 7 and 8 a.m it is like the hustle time so when people talk about like morning routines and like they, you know, have those beautiful Instagram reels where they're like stretching their arms in their bed.

10:54And then they're like doing their meditation and drinking their lemon water. Like that is not our house. Our house is not chaotic in the morning, but there's just a lot going on. So oftentimes I'll get both of the girls up. Drew will start making breakfast. Coco loves pokey eggs, AKA fried eggs with the runny yolk and toast. And so we're kind of doing this like juggle together, which I love that I have that partnership in the morning. because for all of you who like get multiple children out the door on time, like that is a feat in and of itself. And it is also, and can be an also frenetic way to start your day.

11:28So we do breakfast as a family. We all sit around the table. I'll do Coco's hair, make sure she's ready for school. And then at 8am, Drew leaves with both of the girls in the car. And so I feel like that is when I get my like first exhale. And historically speaking, in the past, when he would leave, that is when I would like dive right into work. Like in our past house and even like in past years, I would like crack open my computer the second he left. And something that has really changed for me and really been a huge part of just like my journey in terms of consistency and routine has now been that when he leaves at 8am, that is when I prioritize some of those rituals, routines, resets, whatever you want to call them into my day to start my day with them.

12:17This has been a huge flip for me because in the past, when it came to healthy habits, I often would leave them until the end of the day when I was exhausted. And you can imagine what happened. They didn't happen. And so for me, it's actually been amazing. So when he leaves at 8am, that is when I start some of my routines. And again, this might not be relatable and you might not even know what I'm talking about, but you asked. And so I'm going to be honest. When he leaves at 8am, I do red light therapy and I lay on what is known as a PEMF mat. I have an entire episode about biohacking. So if you go to jennacutcherblog.com slash biohacking, I explain what these things are, why I do them, why I love them.

12:58But I kick off my morning with that. So I will lay on my mat. I have my red light on. And that is often when I'll spend a little bit of time connecting with friends. Sounds weird, but that's when I'll like voice text, my friends catch up on my phone from the night before. Try not to grab my phone until this time. So I can just be with my kids in the morning. I also will sometimes meditate while on the mat, but this whole little part of my day takes about 20 minutes. So eight to eight, 20. And then I head into our gym. When we built our home, something that we really deeply desired was to have a space for working out.

13:33And so we have a gym in our house. It's, it's, it's below my office. And so once I do that morning part of my ritual, I'll usually head to the gym. And one thing that has been so transformative for me is walking and working. So we got a treadmill when we moved into our new house. I know a lot of people's homes don't even have room for a massive piece of equipment. I get that. Having this treadmill has been so game changing for me. It's been crazy. last year, I really struggled to get in like intentional movement. And so I would get a lot of movement in throughout the day, chasing the kids. And you know, once the weather was great, we would go on walks, but we're in the dead of winter, right?

14:15Like winter lasts forever here, winter lasts until like May. And so you can't really get outside and walk. I mean, you can, it's just not as feasible or comfortable. And so having this treadmill has been a game changer for me, I typically now walk between 10 and 13 ,000 steps a day. And I'm doing it while I'm working. So I have a desk on the treadmill. And I don't walk super fast. It's usually like 2.5 miles per hour. And I'll pop it up to a high incline. And I'll use that time to check email or slack, or type like I can even type I typed this outline for this episode while on the treadmill. And what's really interesting is as someone with ADHD, and I do not know if there is any correlation or if this is just something I'm telling myself, I actually feel like I focus better while I'm moving.

15:04A lot of people are like, don't you get motion sick? And like, I am someone who literally has like ginger pills and like those C bands in my bags when I travel, because I get motion sickness a lot. But for some reason, walking on the treadmill does not do that for me. And what's amazing is, is I have a little aura ring where I track my activity and just seeing how significantly my scores have improved when it comes to like intentional movement is amazing. So a lot of times I'll walk anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. And I love this time of day because I'm still being productive. I'm getting into my work.

15:40It might be at a little bit of a slower pace, but it's like easing me in while also getting in movement for the day. today. I actually use that window of time and I connected with a friend and we talked on the phone for an hour and I got in like 40 minutes of walking. And then I was doing like lightweights while we were just talking and catching up on the phone. And it was so life-giving. Like it was just so awesome. So here's your just like PSA, a little reminder, connect with people you love, reach out to people you love, check in on your strong friends. It was just a really awesome way to start my day today.

16:13So again, like I said, there's a lot of variety in my life. There are certain similarities from day to day. But again, I like to not get too boxed in. AI is such a hot topic right now, but how can you really use it in your business in a way that moves the needle? What if AI could take over tedious tasks like pulling reports, rewriting blog posts, and trying to personalize countless prospecting emails? Well, introducing HubSpot's newest AI tools, Content Assistant and ChatSpot. Content Assistant uses the power of OpenAI's GPT-3 model to help you create content outlines, outreach emails, and even web page copy in just seconds.

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17:21Can you believe that we're already wrapping up 2025? This year was packed with travel and so many new memories. One of my favorite moments was our team retreat in Arizona with the incredible women who helped me keep this business running. I also recently took the kids to Nashville during fall break and somewhere in between I squeezed in a trip to Puerto Rico with friends. We booked some of our most memorable stays this year on Airbnb. There's something special about finding a place that doesn't just look great in the photos but actually feels welcoming the moment you walk in. That this feels right kind of feeling.

17:55If you've got trips coming up whether it's a family vacation, a retreat, or a work trip, your house will probably be sitting empty while you're gone. Have you considered hosting your home on Airbnb and letting it work for you? It's a simple way to earn some extra income that can be put towards a future trip or home improvement projects. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com forward slash host. Look, I've become kind of a systems nerd and anything that gives me more space in my day, I'm all in. And a reliable connection is a huge part of that because when the internet lags or cuts out, everything pauses and suddenly the simplest tasks take forever.

18:37I learned really early on that dependable internet, it's not a luxury, it is a must. Whether you're a content creator like me, a restaurant owner, or running a busy dry cleaning business, you need that steady connection to support your team and your clients. That's why I'm excited to share a solution for my fellow business owners. Spectrum Business keeps businesses of all types connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, and mobile services, all with connectivity solutions built for your budget. And they have a truly incredible offer. Business owners can get free business internet advantage forever when you add four or more mobile lines.

19:13It's simple with no contracts and no added fees. Visit spectrum.com forward slash free for life to learn how you can get business internet free forever. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. So between the hours of 930 and 1130, this is when I try to do my deep work. So as I record this, that is happening in this window of time. If I have to do any recording, this is the best time to do it for me. There's a lot of studies and data that shows that humans generally can only focus for four deep work hours a day. I learned this when I took Marie Forleo's Time Genius course. And it really transformed the way that I looked at like, say a typical eight hour work day, because I recognize that there are windows of time where I do need that really deep and focused work specifically for my neurodivergent brain.

20:06And so this is the best time for me. So this is when Coco is in school. So I likely won't be interrupted. Drew is with Quinn. And for a long time, this window of time was when Quinn would do her first nap. She's down to one nap now, which kind of changed our whole schedule. But I like to front load like my more intentional deep focus work during this window of time. One thing that we are looking at as a team is kind of focusing on how can we get more deep work in and what does this look like? And so one thing that we're working towards is kind of having more concentrated Slack communication. So if you aren't familiar, Slack is kind of like an AOL instant messenger, but a lot of businesses use it to communicate.

20:48There's little notifications that can pop up. You can share files. You can record audio. You can share screens. It's a really amazing platform that we use. But one thing that I noticed within myself is that it can often distract me. So it can pull me out of deep work. And so we've been talking about like, what if we do like certain office hours where it's like you check in, you connect with people, you get them what they need, what you need. And then you do your deep work and then you circle back at the end of it. And so that's something that we're working towards. But again, like this 930 to like 1130, 1230 is like my deep work time of like, this is head down, focused work in the office, sitting up in a chair like you are like dialed in.

21:28And I love this time of day. It's when I feel like I get the most done. around 1130. This is when Drew leaves for pickup. So we have Coco in Montessori school. She goes part-time. So she goes to school from 830 to noon each day. We had tossed around the idea of having her in school full-time. I think like developmentally, she's absolutely ready. But as a parent, I'm like, we're not ready yet. Once she's in school for full days, like that's the rest of her life. Right. And so we're really trying to like cherish this time with her. And it feels like a really beautiful balance. Like it feels like she gets to learn.

22:05She gets to be around other kids. She gets those like social skills. She really enjoys school. And so it's been this really great thing that we have this part-time schedule, but it does sometimes feel like Drew gets home from drop-off and like, Oh my gosh, that window of deep work time goes so fast. And then he's turning around to pick her up. So he goes at 1130, picks her up, and then they get home around noon. And so a lot of times I'll try to go inside so that I can see her when she gets home from school, help out with lunch. If I can take part in some aspects, because between the hour of 12 and one lunch has to happen and we get Quinn ready for her nap.

22:43And basically this window of time, some days I work through it. Some days I am prepared to be interrupted. And some days this is when I take my break. So I really try to get any super important work done before this window, because chances are I'm going to be running in the house, grabbing a kid, getting sucked into family life for a little bit here. And I love that. Like, I love that part of the flexibility of what I do and how I do it. So from one to four Quinn naps in the afternoon. And so half of the days, Drew will take Coco out on a date. Like they have like annual passes to the aquarium, the trampoline park.

23:19This is like when they get some really special daddy daughter time, which I just think, man, like how cool. I don't know. I'm so excited for when my kids are old enough to like understand how cool it is that their dad stayed home with them, took care of them, did all this special time with them. Like that bond is just like, could make me weep. And so half of the days during the week, usually every other day, they'll go out and they'll do some adventure aquarium, trampoline park library. They go to the mall a lot. And then I'll be watching Quinn's monitor being available if she wakes up and I'll work from the house.

23:55And then the other half of the day is they hang at home. A lot of times we'll watch a movie or do something like that just to kind of have more rest and I'll stay either working in my office or I'll work next to Coco while she watches a movie. She doesn't nap any longer. I know for those people who are very anti-screen, I get it. I also watched a lot of TV growing up and I turned out okay. And so it's interesting watching because like she needs a break like energetically she needs a break she's not a napper any longer and so we found that like the every other day thing works quite well and other than that my kids don't watch screens i feel like i have to give that disclaimer because like the anti-screen people will come at me but i don't know i think movies are great i love watching movies so the half of the day is i'll sit next to her while she watches a movie so that i'm right next to her and I'll just do some work.

24:45And again, it's not as deep of work, but it's still getting some work done. This is where things might get very unrelatable. So I'm just like going to like put a little asterisk, a little caveat here. Usually between two and three is when I do a part of my routine that feels wild to even mention or bring up. When we built our house, We built a sauna and I say sauna, I am Finnish and I'm proud of it. My grandpa, Sulo, 100 % Finn. If that means nothing to you, the world of sauna or sauna is a very Finnish thing. I grew up where there was just this ritual around sauna. It was a very big part of my life.

25:28And so when we built our home, while we would love to have like a wood burning sauna out in the woods, we knew we would use it so much more if it was built into our house. So we have a sauna in our walkout basement. And at the very final hour of building our home, we added in a cold plunge. Again, not relatable, big tub, cold water. The water stays cold. It filters itself. You don't have to drain it every day. I never thought I would be someone who would cold plunge or enjoy it or look forward to it or be religious with it. And yet here I am. Funny story about me, but I was a diver, meaning diving into pools of chlorine filled water for a decade.

26:12And I dove all throughout college. I was actually quite good. I still hold some school records to this day, which I'm very proud of. However, it made me hate being wet. Like imagine with me, freezing cold, bitter, middle of the winter and you have to dive into a freezing pool of water at 545 in the morning. When Drew met me, my hair was tinged green from chlorine. I smelled like chlorine and I wore sweatpants every day. And I was always like, my hair was always damp because I was always in a pool. So the fact that I have a cold plunge is very shocking to me the most because I hate being wet. I just hate it.

26:51But every day, as much as I can, I will for sure jump in the cold plunge. But if I have enough time, I will also jump in the sauna. I usually do like 20 minutes in the sauna, three minutes in the cold plunge. And what's amazing about this is that for me, this ritual not only kind of like resets me throughout the day, but it gets me energized again. Because a lot of times I'll have like an afternoon slump energetically. And so this time block of time has really just given me a lot of energy. It excites me, gives me that dopamine, helps me clear the mind fog that sets in. And again, it's just a part of my ritual now.