How Tracking My Menstrual Cycle Has Made Me A Better Photographer

Woah, this is a different topic on this website, isn’t it?!

Well, I want to start sharing more content with you that isn’t just “how to” posts about fashion photography. Everything will still be relevant and linked to photography of course, but I think there’s space here for a little more. Let me know what you think over on my Instagram @oliviabossert.

Periods aren’t something I’ve ever discussed publicly before. But they’re certainly something that I’ve paid a lot of attention to in my private life, particularly over the last few years. It was probably around this time in 2018 that I discovered the work of Claire Baker, a menstrual coach. She creates amazing content all about the female reproductive cycle, and I found myself getting really interested in what she was saying. I’d never, ever heard anyone talk about periods in the way that she did:

“Periods can be empowering.” “Tracking your period can inform your day to day life.” “Tracking your periods will change the way that you live your life.” Honestly, it was all totally new to me.

My particular journey with this began with reading more in depth about how the menstrual cycle really works. Sure, we’d studied it briefly in Biology class when I was a teenager, and I’d had the odd sex education class at school, so I knew the very basics. But honestly that was about it. And most of what I’d learnt in school, I’d pretty much forgotten. So when I began to read Claire’s educational content, as well as the books I then went on to buy, her explanations about how different parts of your cycle will have different affects on your emotions, and therefore your day to day life, really resonated with me.

I think it would be hard to speak to a single woman who has periods, and not have her agree with me in some way, shape or form. Naturally, we know that we experience ups and downs in our moods each month. What I don’t think I realised, was that this was normal, and actually could be used to my advantage.

Well, the first thing that pretty much every “period educator” said to do was begin to track your cycle. So that’s what I did. I downloaded the app “Clue” for my phone, and logged when my period started (which is Day 1 of your cycle). I also started to make notes about how I was feeling, what my mood had been that day, how my skin was looking, how I was sleeping, what my cravings for food were like, etc.

I also began to make note of when I was feeling most inspired. When I was feeling most chatty and open. When I was feeling more reserved and quiet. When I was feeling happy. When I was feeling sad. When I was feeling motivated. When I was feeling like I just didn’t want to do anything.

And guess what?

A pattern began to emerge.

It turns out that I can pretty much tell you, almost to the day, when I’m going to be feeling really energised, motivated and excited about life. I can also pin point pretty accurately when I’m not going to be feeling all that good.

So, what does this all have to do with photography?

Knowing all this, and having this new found knowledge has meant that I can make more of an effort to schedule my time around when I know I’m going to be feeling good, and when I’m probably not.

So for example, I’ve made a point of trying to schedule big meetings, big shoots, and any big “pitching days” (as I like to call them) in weeks one and two of my cycle, because I know, personally, that they’re when I’m at my highest energetically. I also now know that I’m probably not going to want to shoot much in week three, because that’s when my tiredness, my self doubt, and my irritability kicks in! So I keep week three as quiet as I can, scheduling in time at home to edit, study, work on the admin sides of my business - basically anything that isn’t as outward facing.

More recently, I relaunched my online course “Pitching With Confidence” and I purposefully did that during weeks one and two of my cycle, because I knew very well that that would be the time that I would find selling much easier.

“But you can’t only shoot during weeks one and two of your cycle, Olivia?!” Yes, I know that. Sometimes I have to do things that don’t feel “great” during my cycle. Maybe I’ll get booked for a really big shoot, and it happens to fall in week four of my cycle, when normally I’d really like to stay at home and rest. That isn’t possible, but the beauty of this is that because I know that I’ll probably feel a bit less energised, I can make sure to look after myself, prioritise my sleep, keep the rest of my diary quiet and create space for myself. I can do what I need to do, to make sure that I’m at my absolute best for that shoot (or whatever else it may be that I need to do).

Before I’d done any of this learning, I had absolutely no idea that this was so important. No one teach us this stuff at school. It’s not talked about enough, and as the vast majority of my audience is women, I wanted to share my experiences with you, so that you can do this work too! Honestly, it really is life changing. And if you’re a man, and you’ve read this far, well done. You’re one of the rare ones who really takes the time to understand women, and our menstrual cycles. Not enough men do, and I think that’s a true shame.

Now, I’m not a period coach, and this isn’t my area of absolute expertise, but I have plenty of resources that I can recommend, so if this is something that you’d like to learn more about yourself, I hope that the links below are helpful!

Let me know over on Instagram @oliviabossert in a DM if you’ve found this helpful. I’d love to hear from you, and know that posts like this are just as interesting to you as all of the other educational content that I create!

Follow Claire Baker
Femmehead Youtube Channel
Period Power*
Period Repair Manual*
It’s About Bloody Time. Period. *
The Balance Plan *