Home Work: A day in the life of creative director and photographer Kate Berry

From working as a creative lead in ad agencies in Melbourne, Sydney and London, to turning her family-focused blog Lunch Lady into a magazine now stocked worldwide, creative director, photographer and event organiser Kate Berry has spent most of her career bringing ideas to life.

Recently, her focus has been on bringing regional towns to life through nostalgia and music in her sell-out gig series OK Motels.

We catch her in a rare break in her routine, having just finished a 12-week accelerator program and the launch of her first book, Family, Food & Feelings.

“There might be work or a new project coming up soon, but I have this need to fill the space in between instead of just enjoying the downtime,” she says.

Morning

During the week, I get up at 5am and run five kilometres. I get to listen to loud music, think about what I’m going to do for the day and run out any frustrations I might have.

Then I’ll make my kids smoothies, put the coffee on and pump out their lunches. Our morning is super regimented because they have to get the bus at 7.30 but somehow it always ends up being a rush.

It’s always the same bus driver, so if he sees us walking down the street he will wait, which is not something you necessarily expect in the city and it gives me nice Daylesford vibes.

Mid morning

I love working at home, but it’s also important for me to be around people and get out of the house a couple of mornings, otherwise my internal narrative can be unconstructive. I’ll tend to do writing and budgeting at home because I need to be in my own little space.

Afternoon

I am the worst time manager on the planet – I forget to put things in the calendar. There are often double bookings and there have been quite a few times where I’ve forgotten things.

I try to bundle things together, be it meetings or going to a certain part of the city. I don’t have a strict email routine but I do block in time to check in the morning and afternoon.

Evening

We get a veggie box delivered once a week and make it a mission to use that for the week.

One thing I do make sure of is that we spend time at the table together each night, whether that is eating dinner or just talking about what we’ve done for the day or doing homework. Some nights we will go out for dinner and our favourite thing to do is go to Readings on Acland Street and just hang out and look at books and records.

Wednesday nights the girls are with their dad, so I might I tinker with the website or do something mechanical.

Bedtime

My kids go to bed at nine and there are often times I go to bed before them. I’ve been getting into the habit of writing the next day’s to-do list before my head hits the pillow. It helps me sleep and I get cracking from the word go the next day.

Madeleine Dore is a freelance writer and the creator of Extraordinary Routines.