Mama said there would be days like this.

There are days I truly feel like a hero. I get to my 6am spin class. I have breakfast with my daughter. I kick butt at work, chipping away at the never ending to do list. I leave in time to run a few errands and then I make it home in time to have dinner with my daughter and my husband. After Brielle is in bed, I manage to sit on my couch and binge watch a show or two before I fall asleep.

Those days…those are the glory days.

Then there are days when I can’t open my eyes in the morning (because I hardly slept all night thinking about the never ending to do list). I rush out the door for my early morning meeting, but I hit RIDICULOUS traffic the.entire.freaking.way. I don’t get a thing done at my office because my phone is ringing off the hook with all kinds of client problems. I spend my day putting out proverbial fires. I miss the text from my nanny, asking if I remembered to register my daughter for her afternoon art class. (Of course I didn’t remember. Thankfully they let her in anyway.) I skip lunch to try to power through the day, but by 4pm, I am starving, cranky, and realize I still haven’t had my morning coffee. On the way home, I hit the same RIDICULOUS traffic, because, of course. I walk in the door just in time to get a few hugs and put Brielle to bed. I snap at my husband for asking me basically any question. I open my computer in an attempt to refocus and garner some level of tangible productivity from my day. I’m distracted by the dumb show my husband is watching. I snap at him for watching said dumb show. I go to bed, still cranky and exhausted. And I hardly sleep, because the to do list is on repeat in my brain. It’s a vicious cycle.

The last week has been a series of these bad days in a row. I’ve had work functions almost every day after work. Nearly every client came from out of the woodwork with a problem to be solved immediately. Brielle has a cold, so she’s sniffling in the night—which of course keeps me up, as I wonder if she should go to the doctor (but when can I get her there??). This week I wake up every day wondering how I will get it all done.

The truth is that some days, it just doesn’t get done. And nothing truly life-altering happened as a result. The world continues to turn. The to do list is always waiting for me, always growing faster than I can chip away at it. I am learning that these days come in ebbs and flows, just like the glory days.

I do not have any insight or advice on how to better manage your time or avoid unpredictable traffic, but I am going to set an alarm on my phone to at least remind me to have my coffee. No one should have a bad day and a caffeine withdrawal.