The Irony

The irony is not lost on me that I’m using AI to build tools and systems to lessen the mental load and give me my presence back, yet somehow I have less capacity and presence now than ever before! I am working 9-5, then usually 7:30-11 EVERY. WEEKNIGHT. It’s really not sustainable, nor is it what I had in mind when I wanted to build my own business! But alas…being an entrepreneur comes with its tradeoffs. Yes, so does corporate America – but different tradeoffs. I’ve also never felt more energized and excited about the things I’m building because they are MINE. For once in my life, I’m building things that truly do help lessen my mental load, and I’ve learned an insane amount along the way (and maybe gotten a little bit lazy too as I just trained an agent to order my daily PSL for me LOL). Just yesterday, I chuckled to myself as my ChatGPT codex asked my permission to work with Claude Design…my robots are now working together.

The last 2 months, AI has allowed me to rebuild my website, build multiple household systems that DO lessen my mental load, automate small household or recurring tasks, build an AI reel-editing system, add paid products to my website, build and send my neighbhorhood newsletter and act as my business consultant on all future projects. I’m doing SO MUCH MORE, and more efficiently, but it seems like every time AI helps make something more efficient…I add 3 more things to my plate! And I still feel like I’m involved every step of the way. Lately, I’ve been seeing posts online about how people are letting AI agents run different facets of their business. That’s my next step. I’m actively working with Fable to figure out my bottlenecks and how I can create skills and agents to remove the small approvals off my plate. I’m still the founder/CEO – these are all MY ideas, but AI should know when a shoe image from my wardrobe doesn’t look like the original shoe after Higgsfield cleans it up in a catalog view. And AI should know when a guide or system I build doesn’t look “wow” enough for my marketing brain.

From a personal standpoint, we are lucky enough to still have a full-time nanny helping out so I do have the time to get my ideas off the ground. And it’s been amazing. But it’s also caused a lot of guilt on my end. I should be spending more time with the kids (and my husband after bedtime!) instead of building systems, right? Right??? It’s a constant mental struggle of – will this work, because if it does it’s worth it. If it doesn’t work, have I wasted valuable time with my babies? I’ve already set a hard date of 11/4 to reduce my working hours to spend more time with the kiddos and know that the clock is ticking. But I think at the end of the day, even if none of this comes to fruition…I have a redesigned journal site that I love and will continue to use and document our lives (find it in my About section of my website), and I’ve learned how to vibe code across multiple platforms to not only build something for me but also build a newsletter for our neighborhood…and who knows where else I could volunteer my newfound talents.

Just yesterday, I signed up as a volunteer for Silas’s school – every single event/need they needed…I checked. I walked out of the school feeling really emotional. It’s so small to us…volunteering at your child’s school…but it’s so big to them: “I saw my mommy helping my teachers today!”. This is absolutely what this “power pause” period of my life should be used for.

So keep following along as I figure out new ways to get my robots to take more off my plate so I can enjoy more time with Silas and Clementine…that’s the end game.