CONFESSION TIME, by Alma Loveland
I am not on vacation.
My house is a little (a lot) disorderly right now.
I’ve had traces of baby poo in my bathroom sink for about three weeks and still haven’t gotten around to cleaning it out completely.
My meals have been thrown together hastily or we’ve resorted to takeout. Also? We’ve been eating chicken nuggets. (Do parents of children who aren’t on solids even do that??)
The laundry has piled up again… and I just barely put away the remaining clean clothes from the last round. I mean, there’s still a laundry basket of some clean clothes that haven’t been put away sitting on my bedroom floor.
I just added to my mess by taking down my box of summer clothes and packing up my winter clothes… but I didn’t actually put away any of my summer clothes.
We did manage to clean our office recently…
The truth is right now, my life is out of balance. Sound familiar? I think that all or most of us have had our truly unbalanced moments. Except, of course, for those of us who are perfect. So those who are perfect can just stop reading right now because this has nothing to do with you.
Mike and I have been working on some important and exciting things. They’re things that ideally we would have found time to work on less close to the deadline, but we are human after all and can’t always be on top of everything. First, we got our portfolios online (mine here and Mike’s here). That was a major accomplishment, and I’ll tell you we’re quite proud of ourselves. Currently, we’re trying everything to complete our online Photoshop and Illustrator classes. These have both been huge, massive, all-time-consuming projects. But we’re so excited to have our portfolios done, and when our online classes are done, we’ll be even more excited! (Except, of course, for having to see ourselves in video form… who even likes that?)
Little O, thank heavens, is oblivious to it all. His baby needs are pretty simple. I can put him on the floor of my office and he plays while I work. And he doesn’t realize that mom and dad have been working every available minute of every day. Phew!
But what I’m learning through all of this is that once these major projects are over, I am going to need to fight hard to establish and maintain balance in our home. As a work at home mom, and especially one who enjoys her job, it’s often hard to unplug and ignore the work. But I’m learning that it’s not okay to pull out the computer to check my email at midnight, see a potential project, and get to work on it for the next two hours. Ideally, in my perfect world, this is what is going to happen. I’m going to finish my projects. Then I’m going to set a schedule and I’m going to stick to it. I’ll work every day from 8-12. Then with the rest of the day, I’ll do laundry, plan and make meals, run a successful home, and take little O on walks and to the pool.
Think I can do it?
What have you done in your lives to establish balance? I’d love to know what works!
a routine is critical for us, and my babies are happier when they sort of know what to expect. Meals and naps/quiet times and bedtimes are pretty regular. Naps or quiet time give me a big chunk of time to work on things, and my babies’ early bedtimes give me a couple of hours at night, also. Plus, having a routine and being prepared for it makes it easier to adjust when life gets a little crazy.
A strict schedule is the only way I get things done. I don’t leave myself much wiggle room, which can backfire from time to time. But, every day, I know what I should be doing at any given time of the day. (I actually just started doing this a week ago. We’ll see if it sticks!)
Having a schedule is kind of fabulous.
I have also come to realize that there is an optimal time during the day for me to be productive, so I try to get all the super important stuff/stuff I like to avoid done during those hours. This way it seems like When Things Come Up during the day I’ve already been able get some necessary things accomplished.
Then there’s the fun part of saying no to things or canceling plans because you realize if you do them it will throw you off balance. I think it takes practice to do that.
I don’t even have kids and I struggle with this. I too love what I do, so it’s hard to get away from the computer and be a wife. I need a schedule.
I can totally relate! Life is totally crazy and it seems to come in waves. We love schedules though I’ll admit child 3 and 4 both go to bed later than their older siblings ever did! But the kids are healthy and happy and so is mom, even if she doesn’t shower until 3pm some days!
Um, this has nothing to do with finding balance, but I’m sooooo excited that you’re doing online versions of your classes! I finally figured out (had an epiphany at lunch today) how to fund the DSLR I’ve been wanting and then my next step is Photoshop! Woohoo!