Over Christmas we've all been home together so there was no way I'd give those precious hours to working, but I soon slipped into bad habits making up for it at night time. Right now it's 1.30am and despite the fact the kids will be up in about 5 hours, I'm nowhere near finishing what I want to get done tonight. Knowing how tired I've felt this week just trying to work at night, it's really got me thinking about how important it is to get my days in order to utilise my time properly. I need to strike that balance between home, family and all that comes with it as well as my work life without burning myself out. Here's my plan to try and get things working for me and our family;
Laying it all out...
I'm going to start with a list to beat all lists. A list for everything that needs doing in every section of my life, from picking up a book bag for Soph, to fixing broken links on my site, it's all going on the list. From there, I'll prioritise the most important things and work out where I need to be spending the most time.
Schedules
Although I know life throws a lot of curve balls so it can never be too rigid, composing a rough schedule to utilise my time and give my days a bit of direction will really help me. I love working from home but it is a bit of a free for all, so by getting my time organised and knowing exactly what my main focuses need to be each day, I'll feel much less stressed. It doesn't matter if there's a million things that need doing, but those million things are a lot more manageable when written down, made time for and not floating around this old noggin.
Breaking habits
I've been stuck in a cycle of working into the night, then feeling rubbish in the day and sometimes having a day nap, meaning once again my day hasn't been productive so I work late. This cycle is SO hard for me to break but after a few months of getting used to the kids being in school and procrastinating daily, I'm ready to break the habit and get things the right way round.
Time off
Another thing about working for yourself is that it's so easy to have a quick email check, pull out the laptop or get drafting posts when you should be spending time with your family, tending to a little self care or sorting the home. I need to make sure that my schedule includes down time from the work side of things, so I'm not compromising in any other areas.
Daily jobs
Each morning I want to start with a clear list of what needs doing with work and home life. It's so easy to get hooked into artwork for a full day then realise I desperately needed washing doing. If I try and stick to my lists I can get my focus in the right places and not just pick the most appealing jobs to get done.
Preparation
With all areas of life, things are so much easier and less stressful with a little prior prep. If I spend a few minutes each night getting our clothes ready for the next day, making sure the shoes are in the hall, book bags emptied and any paperwork delay with, our mornings will Be SO much easier to cope with.
Hopefully I can crack this finally and I feel I've really grown up in this way and I'm no longer just drowning in a sea of never ending tasks. I just wish this was something that came naturally to me without so much thinking! I'll update in a month or so to let you know how I'm getting on.
What do you do to get the balance just right!?
