A woman's work is literally never done - Hair To Go with Derry's Margaret Doherty & Co.

You’re expected to look good, eat healthy, go to the gym, have lovely hair, clear skin, a tidy house, a successful career, well-behaved children, a happy relationship and a social life. And God forbid you look tired while you’re doing it all!

Working in a hair salon, I see women every single day who are juggling a million things at once. They’re running businesses, raising families, looking after parents, working full-time and trying to keep everybody else happy. And somewhere in the middle of all that, they’re supposed to find time to look after themselves.

Then there’s social media, which has somehow convinced us that everybody else has their life completely sorted. You scroll through your phone and see somebody with a spotless house, another one on their amazing holiday, somebody else looking ten years younger than their age.

Meanwhile, you’re standing in the kitchen looking for your keys, shouting at the children to get their shoes on, wondering if you’ve even brushed your own hair.

And that’s before you’ve had your first cup of coffee!

The pressure to look young is another thing altogether. There are creams for every wrinkle, treatments for every line and enough advice online to make you believe that ageing is a personal failure.

I think we need to give ourselves a break.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to look your best. I love hair, beauty and making women feel good about themselves. That’s my job, and I see the confidence a good haircut can give somebody. But there’s a difference between doing something because it makes you feel great and feeling like you have to do it because you’re not good enough as you are.

And don’t get me started on the guilt!

If you work, you feel guilty about not spending enough time with your children. If you stay at home, you wonder if you should be doing more. If you go to the gym, you feel guilty about the jobs you haven’t done.

When exactly are we supposed to win here?

I think we’ve become so caught up trying to be everything to everybody that we’ve forgotten we’re actually allowed to be human. The house can be messy. The dinner can be simple. Your hair can be tied up in a bun. And some days, getting everybody fed and into bed deserves a medal.

We spend so much time trying to keep up with everybody else that we forget to enjoy our own lives.

So here’s my suggestion: stop comparing your ordinary Tuesday to somebody else’s carefully selected highlight reel. Stop believing you need to change every little thing about yourself.

And stop feeling guilty for taking a bit of time for yourself.

You don’t have to be the perfect mother, the perfect wife, the perfect businesswoman or the woman who always looks like she’s just stepped out of a magazine.

Sometimes, being good enough is more than enough.

And if you manage to get the washing done, feed the children, answer your messages and get your roots sorted in the same week, I think you deserve a wee holiday altogether!

Love Margaret