Getting a work/life balance is incredibly important for parents during the busy back to school period – and celebrities are no different.
As our Back To School Digital Issue's guest editor Alesha Dixon champions the 'Balance of Life', we spoke to a handful of stars who shared their top tips on juggling their showbiz schedules with parenting.
The famous faces also lifted the lid on what they like to do to unwind…
Alesha Dixon
© Photo: Instagram"The most important thing to me is being the driving force behind everything I do. Whether that’s the smallest thing - making sure my diary is balanced, making sure my children get to see me and I still get to go and earn a living to support them and myself.
"I look after my business, I am the driving force behind that, therefore I can kind of make sure everything works in harmony. Sometimes you have periods where you don’t see your children as much, but I always make sure they have quality time with me.
SEE: Alesha Dixon talks balancing ambition with passionate parenting
READ: BGT judge Alesha Dixon's stunning Hertforshire home could rival a wellness retreat
"When you are self-employed and you are in the creative industry, there is no set 9-5. You have to go with the flow. To some people, it might seem busy, but you have busy moments, quiet moments, and that’s normal for the entertainment industry. My kids see that, they understand that.
"You bring them along when you can and when you can’t they have to accept mummy’s out there doing her thing. Hopefully, that’s also a strong lesson for them: if you want something in life you’ve got to go out there and work for it. It’s not going to fall in your lap."
David Walliams
© Photo: Instagram"When I'm on 'daddy duty,' that is the priority. Time is precious for children and if you think about it, your childhood is not actually a very long part of your life so I always want to make sure that I give my son an amazing childhood and the thing that children like more than anything else is time spent with you. Time, attention, focus - all of those things are super important. Just having some nice one-on-one time and talking properly and not being distracted.
"When I have my 'me-time,' I like to play with my dogs, Bert and Ernie. I read, I love watching old movies, so anything like that is good. But I do enjoy my job and writing my children's books, so I feel very lucky.
"When I'm stuck into a book or a script, it's great and the feeling when it's finished is wonderful. It's like still being able to be a kid really - being an actor, a writer, because you're still playing… Britain's Got Talent, it's all just playing. It's not really like a proper job."
Louise Redknapp
© Photo: Instagram"It's difficult some days it's really difficult... You know, it's just juggling, all hands on deck and also, the boys just have to sort of appreciate that mum has to go to work. I'm so fortunate that I don't have to work a nine to five every day like some mums do, I can be busy for three days and then I can have two days where I'm totally at home and totally there.
"I just juggle, like I just do my best like, obviously, with Chaz (son Charley, 18) going away, tonight I'll finish work and I'll get straight back home in time to do dinner and just sort of be there. Some days work out really smoothly, some don't, some days it's all over the place but I think mainly, we just sort of pull together and work together really...
"Work is one of the 'me' times I think, especially when I'm singing and I'm going to do a gig, it's kind of like going to my own little head for a little while when I'm on stage, and I just take it all in."
Gemma Atkinson
© Photo: Instagram"From August onwards, I can't really do anything else other than my radio show because obviously it's Strictly time. In January, I was out of the house at 7am and wasn't in until 8pm in the evening for work, so Gorka [Marquez] didn't do the Strictly tour because he was at home with Mia every night.
"It's balancing it and making sure we spend time as a family as well and sometimes for us that's just putting a blanket in the garden and lying about, playing and chatting together. Or it's going for a walk with the dogs. It doesn't necessarily have to be a big trip. It's things that we love doing at home.
READ: Gemma Atkinson reveals surprising wedding plans with Gorka Marquez
"Mia loves pizza so we try and make our own pizzas with her. It's things like that that create great memories. I remember growing up, it was never anything extravagant or over the top, it was just lovely memories with the family. We try and make sure she has the same experience.
"My 'me time' is when I'm in the gym. I love working out, I love having a good sweat. I get up at about 5am which sounds ridiculous – but I'm in bed at nine o'clock so I get a good night's sleep.
"Mia doesn't get up until about half seven so I've got a good two-hour window to do some yoga or exercise or even just sit in the garden with a coffee in the morning. Just have time to yourself. I absolutely love that window and for me that makes getting up early worth it because it sets me up for the day, to be able to manage everything else throughout the day."
Giovanna Fletcher
© Photo: Instagram"Our school run is very much split, which is good. I really like it when he [Tom Fletcher] does the school run in the mornings - because they have to leave at 8am it feels like you've got a nice chunk of time and you can utilise that hour if you like before you settle down to work at 9am, to go and do something for yourself, you know, which I think we're going to see the benefits of even more when Max starts in September because obviously he’s the last of ours to actually start proper, proper school.
READ: Giovanna Fletcher shares tips on how to deal with children's meltdowns
"So we're going to have that whole thing of five days a week, they're out at 8am in the morning, which is going to be very new to us after eight years of having someone at home all the time! So I think we're both looking forward to that routine.
"Work wise for me, with the podcast and especially with books, it is really useful to have the school timetable, to have their schedule to help me with my working. I know that I've got from eight to four to get cracking and get work done, which really does help me focus on utilising that time properly."
Martine McCutcheon
© Photo: Instagram"I just make sure that I come back after the school run and at some point through that day, even if it's half an hour, I'll have that time to meditate or just rest or just breathe or just be silent or have a bath.
READ: Martine McCutcheon reveals how she takes the stress out of her school run
"Just something that calms the nervous system down and calms me down as a result. As a mum, the minute there's a chink in the chain of life, it's important, I think, to just calm down, take stock and just think about what's the simplest way forward for me.
"I just always think about what's going to be the most productive way of doing things with the least amount of effort or stress."
Joe Wicks
© Photo: Instagram"I prioritise what's important to me. I love being busy, I love working and I love writing books and doing new shows, creating new content.
"But I also love slowing down and being present with my kids and my wife. I think the biggest challenge is the phone addiction and the device, so I've really learnt to have better boundaries with that.
"So I'm leaving it when I go for dinner, when we go for a bike ride or go to the park. I'll leave in the car; I don’t need to take photos of everything and record it all.
"Also, block-out times – So I know that I've got a busy couple of months now but in October I'm taking Rosie and the kids to the Maldives!
"I block these times out so I can work really hard and then I can have a time to recover and relax. Then it re-energises me."
Kimberley Walsh
© Photo: Instagram"In my later years and obviously having more children, I am stricter than I would have been before in what I do take on and what I don't. Before I’d probably try to please everybody and say yes to everything and think, ‘I’ve got to do it, it's work.’
"Now I think I'm really able to look at it as an overall picture and consider whether it will be too much. That one extra job may suddenly push this week or this month into a different place where it won't feel like the correct balance.
"So I'll just say no to things a little bit more and I've found that it's really paid off for me. I've got a one-year-old child so I want to be at home for him and be with the older ones when they need me most, which is before bed, for homework, chatting about their day and all that stuff.
"Me time seems to be a lot more rare than it used to be, which is a shame but it's just logistics, really. If I can meet my friends for literally an hour and have lunch, brunch, dinner or whatever and we can just sit and chat and just be us, that’s my self-care.
"My mum used to meet her girlfriends every Thursday without fail our whole childhood, Thursday night was Thursday night with the girls. And I get it now. I get it so much.
"She has four kids, a full-time job, extra jobs that she always did, and I think it almost keeps you a little bit sane. I might see these friends when we've got the kids, but you never finish the conversation that you wanted to ask about or you never get to make sure that they're actually okay because you’re too busy running after a toddler.
"It's more about having that time to breathe and just chat about other stuff."
Millie Mackintosh
© Photo: Instagram"Hugo tries to get home most nights for bathtime so he gets to spend time with the girls before they go to bed and read Sienna a story, which she loves.
"Our weekends are saved for family time, and we really treasure that time together."
Josie Gibson
© Photo: Instagram"When I’m spending a whole day with Reg, I just switch my phone off, so that my attention is just on him. It can be a bit of a struggle, and it can be quite hard to have to say no to people, but when I’m spending time with him, I just want him to have all of my attention.
"My family help me out a lot. I’ve been doing lots of work recently but juggling is made so much easier with the support network I have around me."
