Hands up if your workday is less of a 9am – 5pm and more of a 5am – 9pm?

Hands up ladies if, in this modern world, you would agree that your workday is less of a 9 – 5 and more of a 5 – 9. Are you with me?

It starts when you are rudely awoken at 5am, either by an alarm or a child’s sticky finger in your ear and from that moment on, you are constantly on the go with little chance to switch off or think about yourself. At least not until 9pm.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by NESCAFÉ. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100 per cent authentic and written in their own words.

The modern woman works in so many different capacities. It might be from home, or as a mother, perhaps in an office and even sometimes, a combination of all three. Today we acknowledge the heroic efforts of all women and the crazy hours in which they work. I watched the video below and found myself nodding along and agreeing with (and enjoying) all of it. One scene in particular resonated with me.

There she is, the mother working from home, as a photographer, trying to be professional and deliver her best possible work to the client. Meanwhile her children are being, well, children and drawing on her legs as she Skypes the client, while she keeps up the pretense that all is perfectly normal.

It reminded me of the time, years ago, when we were considering moving interstate and I had to sit a job interview via Skype. At the time, my son was three and he was one of those kids who went down for a sleep at a certain time of the day, like clockwork. I arranged to have the interview for this time, prepared myself both physically and mentally, sat down at the dining table in front of my laptop and waited for the call. I can’t express in words how much I wanted this job. Okay, I can, I wanted it baaad. It was in short, my dream job.

The call came in and I noted the 4 people smiling back at me from around a boardroom table. Overwhelming? Sure. But I had this, I was prepared and I was ready to blow them away with my persona and knowledge of the industry. Pleasantries over, we got down to business. That’s when I heard this from down the hallway – ‘Muuuum, my bottom is on FIRE!!!’ I felt my cheeks burn and looked back to the screen to see my audience a mixture of confusion and bemusement.

‘Errr, should you go see to that?’ asked the CEO.

‘Oh no, he’s fine, sorry about that, he’s usually a great sleeper’. I felt my resolve start to crumble.

Then – ‘Muuuuum, I just did a MASSIVE poo! Come look!’

I heard someone in the boardroom giggle.

‘You know what Bern, we might just continue this a little later, maybe when you’ve got less, err, distractions. How long do you need?’ asked one lady, barely concealing her smirk.

I requested an hour. As it turns out, my son was right, he had done a massive poo. I cleaned him up, got him settled back into bed and decided I needed the one thing I knew would settle me down, a coffee. I sat there, contemplating the fact that I’d probably just lost my dream job because my son was being, well a child and then coming to the conclusion that if that was the reason I didn’t get the job, then really, I probably didn’t want to work for them anyway. That coffee not only relaxed me, it also gave me clarity.

We resumed the interview via modern communications an hour later. Afterwards, feeling fairly confident I’d just nailed the interview, I walked into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and spotted my milk mustache from my latte.

Two weeks later I received a phone call to tell me that I had the job.

The thing I have found is that as women, we are all constantly trying to prove ourselves to others. That despite obstacles that we are all faced with, be it as a stay at home mother, a mother who works outside the office or a woman who is trying to forge a path in her chosen career, it’s probably often us, who are putting unfair expectations upon ourselves.

Life is chaotic and unpredictable, and yes the time our days start and end are very different as women in 2014, but along with that change, also comes so much satisfaction, joy and often, if we stand back and take a look at what we’ve achieved, an amazing sense of accomplishment.

Celebrate yourselves ladies, whichever way you look at it, you are doing an amazing job!

Do you have a memorable moment from when you were being a super woman?

The modern Australian woman’s day stretches well beyond a traditional 9 to 5 day.  Nowadays it’s more like 5am to 9pm and a short coffee break can make all the difference.

To salute the heroic efforts of everyone working 5 to 9, the NESCAFÉ team has re-recorded the classic song, ‘9 to 5’ and created a full music video showcasing all the challenges in a 5 to 9 day. 

Are you #working5to9? Take a break with NESCAFÉ Café Menu® and share the music video with your friends.

WATCH the ‘5 to 9 Diaries’ video series here:

– Episode 1

– Episode 2

– Episode 3

– Episode 4

– Episode 5

– Episode 6

– Episode 7