Wellness Diaries: Fiona Hickey, owner of FAH Chartered Accountants

I wake at…6am, even at weekends. I love to rise early and my husband is getting up for our 3 dogs and chickens so I wake and join the early start.

The first thing I do every morning is… hit snooze on the alarm to get a bit longer in bed before taking a deep breath in of some grapefruit-scented oil that I keep on my bedside locker to help myself wake up for my day ahead.

My morning routine is… an early coffee and chat with my husband around 6.30am, a precious chance to catch up and chat alone with him with no distractions, before he heads to work at 7am and my day starts…I usually get an hour’s work done then before my children wake at 8am and I start the routine of making school lunches/ serving breakfast/getting us all out the door at 9am. At weekends the morning routines vary depending on my son’s GAA training and match times but usually involves a Saturday morning walk with the children stopping into our favourite coffee shop on the way home.

I can’t go to work without… dropping into my favourite coffee shop for a coconut milk cappuccino and ten minutes to sit in peace before the work day to enjoy it.

The self-care tool I use every day is… reminding myself of my intentions for that day or that week. Sometimes the intention might be to have a really productive workday and I have scheduled extra work time to do specific tasks and feel that satisfaction of ticking them off the ‘To Do List’. Usually, the intention to remind myself of is that which I set myself for 2023, to have the work-life balance that really I want for myself, to relish my family time and have more of it and to feel a sense that as time goes by so quickly I am enjoying it in the way in which I want to live, with more time spent with my loved ones and at home. By reminding myself of my intention it gives my day a focus, whether that focus is work or family I will try to stay aligned. I am very good at not checking my phone when with my children as I don’t want an email distraction (especially at weekends) and likewise when I am focused on work I won’t look at my phone. When I take holidays I take the email app off my phone entirely and really switch off not seeing how many are awaiting me in the inbox.

The best part of my day is…climbing into bed tired but happy that my day and my husband and children’s days went good (no tears, drama or upsets). I love going to bed and I am an early bedtime person, and much prefer it to watching television. I often bring a cup of tea and try to read before I sleep.

The most challenging part of my day is… in work, trying to manage all the demands of work and my business in a limited amount of hours – usually it feels like I would need infinite time to do everything. I manage it as best I can by having my diary allocated to meeting time, email time, tasks, phone calls and juggling as much as I can to get everything done in the week, although like everyone my ‘To Do List’ is always way too long.

I engage with self-care every day by… really trying to make time for my daily walk, whether it is before work, in the spring/summer time I will often walk my children to school and then do my own walk before going in slightly later to the office, or in the evenings for example when I bring my son to GAA I will often use the time he is training to get my walk in. My walk can easily fall by the wayside if I am not quite strict/selfish about squeezing it in so I really try to get it scheduled into my day to look after myself and clear my head with a walk, no matter the weather.

My daily self-care checklist routine includes… I like to take time in the evenings to have a bath (with some bath oils and a bath scrub) if time allows or else to cleanse my face, follow with an exfoliator then a hydrating serum, maybe pop on a face mask or hair mask, put on a facial overnight moisturiser and eye cream, rub some Kiehls body cream into my heels and hands. I love a beauty product and I like to really take some time in the evening to give my skin some TLC.

The quickest, smallest thing I do for myself every day is… say thanks for all I have, the gratitude is so grounding and keeps me enveloped in positive energy. I also ask my children to tell me the 3 things they are grateful for at bedtime, to teach them a sense of gratitude, even if they usually reply they are grateful for their iPad, the chocolate biscuit/treat they got and mum (they think adding mum in wins them favour!).

I know it’s been a good day if… I went for a walk and relaxed with a podcast or some music or chatted a friend. Sometimes when I am really in need of a good day I will drive 30mins to Laytown to do a long 10km beach walk followed by coffee and a pastry in Ariosa by the Sea. Coffee and walking are all I need for a great day.

I switch off from work by…jumping straight into my mum duties of homework, listening to the classroom news, preparing dinner, driving to activities, doing laundry and organising uniforms and sports kits.

Before I go to bed, I’ll… read to my children a chapter of the novel we are reading together which is currently Wildflower Girl (they read their own favourite authors but for our novel together it is often a book I have kept from my own childhood like the Marita Conlon McKenna trilogy). While reading we will take pauses to talk about the book and the characters.

After a long work week, I destress with… a glass of red, some good food or cheese and a chat and Netflix show with my husband.

My go-to comfort meal is… a Sunday roast and all the trimmings – especially comforting if someone else has cooked and handed it to me!

When I really need a moment to myself, I always… close my eyes and say a little prayer to reset and get a minute’s comfort.

Something I try to do for myself every day is… nourish myself with good food (such as an almond milk bircher porridge and berries for breakfast, homemade soup or avocado and eggs toast for lunch and maybe a sweet potato and chickpea curry for dinner), it really makes a difference to my day and to the week to eat well and feel nourished by my meals. It always makes a weekend treat meal seem like a treat and I love an Indian for that treat meal.

The most reflective moment in the day is… after my husband leaves for work and before my children wake up I try to sit and reflect on my intentions and my week sometimes with a 5 min meditation podcast. I did the Good Glow January Refresh recently and really liked doing it at this moment of the day before everything got going.

The one person, place or thing guaranteed to give me joy is… always my two children, they fill my cup immensely and give me great companionship and laughs.

I wish I could do relaxation more mindfully… I really want to try yoga as even my relaxation time tends to be quite active or filled and I am not good at completely stopping and just breathing and stretching.

Everyone should try… say a prayer, no matter what your spirituality or belief I think it is very comforting to pray, either for comfort when you are upset or overwhelmed by life, for guidance if you are faced with a choice, for strength in a difficult time and to give gratitude for all that you have.

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