It was one of those days… where it felt like I just couldn’t get it together, my mind was all over the place. The house was constantly in a clean it/mess it up cycle of epic proportions, I had a few things to do for ‘business’, all three kids were under my feet and were feeling needy, and I felt obligated to answer texts and emails from clients. I was feeling torn in a lot of different directions and was giving a little time to a lot of things instead of being able to focus on one (Sound familiar!?!?). There may or may not have been some ‘raised voices’ at the children, which added guilt to my tailspin of a morning. It was a series of bad balance choices that led to this.
Firstly, mixing computer work and kids just won’t work. I got easily wrapped up in my “just one more minute” editing/emailing/social media posting, that before I knew it, its been thirty minutes and the kids had raided the pantry, wrecked the living room and not accomplished whatever tasks I had given them. Why didn’t I just separate the two, create a time boundary of mommy time and office time? I should have told myself that all of the business tasks could wait until after lunch (which are my usual office hours). I should have, but I didn’t… bad balance choice.
Secondly, I could have gotten so much more done for my business to-do lists if I’d waited. I (most of the time) have designated “office hours”. Lets talk about THAT for a second. When this summer hit (kids at home 24/7, hubby off work but still has tasks to do on campus), I knew we would need to really get our act together for me to be able to work and have time to spend time with the kids. We (husband and I) decided that he would work on his not-at-home items in the morning, be home around lunch, then I’d be able to work on my business to-do-list. So far, this has worked out really great and has given me some much needed balance. But those moments when I feel pulled into my office by the invisible thread of business, it throws me off balance and makes me grouchy, frustrated and feeling unsuccessful in all areas.
So, as a reminder to myself… next time, I will:
Get up earlier in the morning, do the tasks that need my immediate attention.
Once the children wake up, give THEM my full attention.
Create a list (written, not on my phone, as to not be tempted to be distracted that way) throughout the morning of things that I should do during office hours.
Use my office time wisely and efficiently, knocking off the most important tasks first.
Give myself grace (and not guilt!) over not answering business requests immediately, but create boundaries and balance between my work and personal life.
If you find yourself in the endless cycle of no-balance, I hope this helps you too! Balancing babies and business is not easy, but it IS manageable… just got to make boundaries and keep them balanced! You got this, friend!!
Lindsay Colson, photographer and owner of Captured by Colson Photography, is a Valdosta, Georgia based photographer who specializes in plantation and estate weddings in the southeast as well as natural light senior photography. Interested in choosing Lindsay document your first day of marriage?
Get in touch and lets chat more!
Want to know more about Lindsay’s work? Click here!
Be the first to comment