So my daily routine usually goes a little something like this:

6:50am: Yep, that's the sound of the alarm. I'm not one to hit the snooze button, so after a really good stretch (usually to see how sore I am from the previous day's workout), I'm up. I wash, do my make-up, get dressed and head down for breakfast.

8:15am: After sorting my things, settling my little kitty and feeding my lovely bunnies, I head to work.

8:50am: I usually get to work around this time and after a quick check of social media, I make my to-do list and crack on. Usually, I focus on around four tasks per day.

1:00pm: Lunchtime. We get an hour which is really good, but I'm naughty - I don't go for a walk or take some time away from my desk. This is an hour guys, which means it's a perfect chunk of blogging time.

5:00pm: Time to head home! I'm lucky I don't have a really long commute, but door to door, it probably takes me about 40 minutes.

5:45pm: I get home but there's no time for sitting down - I feed the three furry members of the family and then head straight upstairs to do a workout. I work on a different part of my body every day and it's such a release after work.

7:00pm: After showering and getting my outfit ready for tomorrow, I help my mum finish off tea, my dad gets home and we sit down to eat. Then we all clear up, I put the bunnies to bed and make my lunch for the next day.

8:30pm: I try and aim to sit down between 8 and half past and when I do I work on my blog while Tom does a bit of writing.

9:00pm: Around this time, we'll have a cut-off point and stop for the day. We'll make a tea, watch something and have a chat until we head up to bed.

10:00pm: Up to brush my teeth and have a chat or a read with Tom before it's lights out.

Writing this down has actually made me realise just how busy my life is. Looking at that, I don't really stop until nine o'clock at night. Sometimes I really wish I could do one of two things:

Survive on a very limited amount of sleep - this is impossible for me. I need my eight hours to be able to function
Not sleep at all.

Lately, with my never ending list of tasks to complete at work, and all the factors that come with running a blog, it’s safe to say that I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. Not to mention trying to have a social life and spending time with my family. It seems as if there’s always something to be done, and I feel guilty if I’m not doing something useful. There’s so much I want to do that I’m not getting time to do at the moment – I’ve got a pile of magazines to read that date back to this time last year it’s that bad. So if you’re in the same situation as me, this post isn’t going to tell you how you can manage your work load more effectively or give you a few pointers to put you in the right direction. Instead, I’ve found five little mantras that will hopefully improve our mind-set, and keep us going.

“Put your positive pants on.”

As the saying goes, if you think positive things then positive things will happen. I wrote a post last year about How We Can Stay More Positive, but sometimes it’s so difficult. Especially if you’ve got a mountain of tasks to complete that you’re not interested in. When our careers start, we’re usually at the bottom of the ladder, and it can be really hard to stay motivated. Whether you’re not being given enough opportunities or you’re not being paid enough, there’s always something there to try and push us down.

I’ve come to learn that it’s easy for a person to tell you to stay positive. ‘Stay positive.’ ‘Be positive.’ But there’s nothing more difficult than actually doing it. I wrote this in an answer to question someone submitted to ‘Dear Holly’ last week – you’re not alone. Some people would love to have your bad days. Some people would love to be able to say they’ve got a job or a big work load. It may be tough, but it won’t be forever. Talk to your family and friends. Find the people and things that make you happy and surround yourself with them. I bring little notes into work with me and keep them in a notebook. When I’m feeling down, I read them and it reminds me of all the people that are there for me. That’s more than enough reason to smile.

“I still have a long way to go, but I’m already so far from where I used to be and I’m proud of that.”

We’re growing every day. Even if we’re doing the same thing every day, we’re still growing, improving and moving forward. In terms of our career it’s really useful to look back and just see how far we’ve come. I can trace my serious love for writing back to my early college and university days when I contributed to the student newspaper. Every move you make is a step up whether you realise it or not. Sure, maybe you’re not in your ideal job yet, but look at where you’ve come from. The amount of work you have now is just proof that you’re getting better. It doesn’t mean you’re falling behind and it definitely doesn’t mean you’re failing. Even if you don’t enjoy every part of the job you do now, it’s all leading you to somewhere better. And each time you take a step forward, you won’t have as far to go.

“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”

Your work load can either beat you, or you can beat it. What I’ve come to realise is it’s not your work load that changes. It’s how you think about it. If you think you’re never going to get it done, then you probably never will. But if you think you’re going to blast it, you will. You can either see your work load as a problem or an opportunity. Remind yourself what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and where it will lead to.

“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.”

I’ve always believed that everyone should be given the chance to create their own opportunities. You should be able to prove yourself to the point where you can say, I’ve done this and now I want to do this. When we work, we discover what we’re good at and it’s important to ensure that that’s what our job is filled with. To start off, you’ll probably do tasks that aren’t difficult and are maybe a bit tedious. But every so often, you’ll get a big task to do that will challenge you. The more you prove yourself, the more opportunities you have. Sometimes you have to create them and sometimes you have to ask for them, but like my mum has always said, if you don’t ask then you don’t get. Write it as a goal – what do you really want to do? Then work backwards to see what you can do to get there. You’ll be proud of how far you get.

“Never stop doing your best just because someone doesn’t give you credit.”

It’s textbook – a new employee comes up with an amazing idea, speaks to someone about it, the idea is created and the person that came up with it doesn’t get any credit. We’ve probably all been there and it feels awful. You just feel like you want to quit right there and then. But if you don’t, you’ll come out on top. It says a lot about you as person depending on what you do when that situation happens. You either stop trying and give up, thinking that there’s no point. Or you learn from it – you learn to keep everything to yourself, and just try that little bit harder. If I could follow once piece of advice it would be to never ever share a big idea with anyone unless you completely trust them. There’s a lot of people out there who can’t come up with as good ideas as you and will be prepared to steal them and take credit for them. Don't let the fight stop you from pursuing your goals and dreams.

I'd love to know, how do you cope when you can't escape your work load?