

While she’s best known for her role on The Project, that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Carrie Bickmore packs into her day.
Campaigning to raise one million dollars for her brain cancer awareness foundation Carries Beanies 4 Brain Cancer, wife, mum to Ollie, eight, and Evie, one – the 35-year-old certainly juggles a whole lot of hats (or should we say beanies).
We sat down with Carrie to understand why she celebrates her full schedule, what helps her get through her day and why she believes women should be celebrating their busy lives.
How do you maintain a positive sense of self with such a full schedule?
“I love exercising. I do a lot of exercise, not hardcore or anything but I’ll often do it with my daughter like we’ll go to the park and I’ll do bits and pieces there. I go for a walk with her every single day and on the weekends I’ll try and get to a pilates class. My whole life I’ve been active more for my mental health than my physical health, I think.”
Did a spot of mountain biking this morning at Mt Lofty. Waleed got competitive. Appropriate on International Women’s Day that I won!! ???????????????????? A photo posted by Carrie Bickmore (@bickmorecarrie) on
Carrie and her Project Co-star Waleed Aly. Image:@bickmorecarrie. “There’ll be a period where I’ll feel so flat and I’ll think ‘Carrie, you haven’t done any exercise for a while, what’s going on?’ And as soon as I go for a run or a run-walk as it is most of the time, I go ‘Ah, that’s better, I can take on life now!’
Are there routines that you always have time for regardless of your schedule?
“Even though I hate it, I always take my makeup off at night. Occasionally I try and get away with not doing it and then my skin breaks out and I spend the next two weeks begging the makeup girls to cover up the enormous – and they’re not little! – spots that seem to come up on my face. Even though I am a woman in my thirties, I still break out so I force myself to take my makeup off at night. I think that’s why I don’t wear much and only wear BB Cream during the day because I have to have time for my skin to breathe.”
Top Comments
Being busy has made me very ill! On forced bedrest. Busyness does not work for everyone! I wish I was less busy.
I've been unemployed for a long time and I totally agree with what Carrie is saying. Im jealous of friends and family who are busy. I do my best to stay busy but it is not the same as being authentically busy.
For those who have never experienced long periods of unemployment/underemployment the lack of busy-ness means that you're constantly scrounging for conversational topics together with feelings of worthlessness and pointlessness. I'll give you an example. If all I've done all day is clean the house, volunteer cleaning and the weekly shop when the family reconvenes at the end of the day I won't have anything to contribute to the discussion about the day's events unless I enjoy whining about the mess they've made or the fact they eat. Always, as the person with the least to contribute, I get to listen and support the others. When I work, or have meaningful volunteer work, I can take a proper turn of talking about my day and its trials and tribulations.