Day in the life: Samsung’s Linda Nolan shares her daily rituals

Up before dawn and running at full speed… Linda Nolan, Marketing Director at Samsung Ireland, shares her weekday routine.

6am I’m usually woken by one of my boys (Noah, five, and Joshua, two). I haven’t needed to set an alarm clock in the last five years unless I’m up extremely early for a red-eye flight to London. So my days (even weekends) always start around 6am. Getting the boys dressed and fed takes up most of my morning, then I have about 15 minutes myself to get ready, so my hair is usually thrown up into a top knot. I’m all about hydrating my skin, so I spritz every morning after my shower with Yon-ka Invigorating Mist – it’s like a spa in a bottle. I’m quite good at getting my make-up done quickly, so a bit of tinted moisturiser and bronzer and I never leave the house without mascara on.

8am We finally make it out the door for school and crèche drop-offs, and I always try and stop for my favourite coconut latte in Insomnia on the way to the office.

8.30am My working day starts. My days vary, but I always try to keep my Monday in the office. This is my favourite day of the week, as I enjoy catching up with colleagues and planning the week ahead. We have numerous internal meetings on a Monday and then generally the rest of the week is either travelling to my UK colleagues in London or out and about with agencies and customers. My least favourite part of my working week is the hour I often spend stuck in traffic getting in.

1pm I’m usually starving, as I tend to eat on the run a lot. I do my best to choose healthy options. I’m lucky in that I live close to the office, so if I have the time, I sometimes go home and make a nice salad or else I arrange meetings over lunch.

3pm When I’m in the office, I’m usually going through budgets, catching up with my marketing team or on conference calls to the UK or our European office.

5.15pm I have to pick up my boys. It’s been a long day for them, so I like to get them as soon as I can.

6pm Crazy hour at home with two hungry and tired boys, so I immediately switch from my marketing job into my mommy job. Dinner on, checking homework and catching up with them to see how their day went. I make a point of putting my phone away for an hour, as I think it’s important they get my full attention before bedtime.

7pm On a Monday and Wednesday, I do my favourite workout, Rebounding, which is run by an incredible lady and dear friend of mine, Eileen, in Stillorgan Leisureplex. It’s an intense cardio workout for an hour on a trampoline. Usually a class of about 50-60 women, and it’s an amazing workout. So good for the body and mind, and it’s my hour to completely switch off.

8pm Home for a shower and then preparing for the next day. I usually get all the clothes laid out and prepare the lunches for the boys. My workwear varies depending on what I have on. I’m a jeans girl, really, and we have a laid-back casual dress code in the office when we’re not at external customer meetings, so I like to wear jeans and heels. I’m always in heels, with a pair of trainers in the car to quickly change into when doing the school run.

8.30pm I finally get to eat dinner. I batch cook a lot of healthy meals at the weekends and freeze them so I don’t have to face cooking at a late hour – it’s my saving grace. I’m not a big fan of anything on the TV at the moment, so I usually watch Netflix – I’m currently loving Narcos: Mexico and Billions. Then, inevitably the laptop comes back out as I often have deadlines and approvals to get closed off that day. Then bed! 

Portrait by Kieran Harnett