March 31st, 2010

Finding the Time

When I decided to shift to my niche, I asked readers to leave a question for me to answer in a blog post. It’s my way of encouraging a discussion and exchange of ideas and tips. The first question/comment comes from Jeanine aka NaturalMomma. Here is what she had to say:

Hi Kristina!

I have a ques­tion. How do you find enough time in your day for home­school­ing and writ­ing and meals and …?

I am mak­ing a bit of a switch, myself, in that I am want­ing to write more, work one-on-one with clients less all in an effort to (1)live my pur­pose and (2)take my biz to the next level.

But as I have begun to spend more time writ­ing mini-books and blog posts and reports and email follow-up mes­sages, my son has begun to hate my computer!

Jea­nine

My immediate response to Jeanine was a short reply which read, “You are not alone”. I stand by that still. You are not alone Jeanine no matter how it feels. Before becoming a work-at-home mom, I worked full time as an  English teacher (9th grade) and for my daughter’s first year, I was also finishing grad school. I was a wreck.  I left the house at 7:30 am and returned home most nights after 9:00 pm. On the nights that I was home earlier she was in bed by 5:30-6:00 EVERY NIGHT! I kid you not. I barely saw her and I was miserable.

After making the transition to WAHM I thought that life would get easier. I thought that I would have more time for her, but when you work from home it is even harder to draw boundaries at times. I was working 40-50 hour weeks trying to build a web design and consulting business and that left VERY little time for anything else. And again I was miserable.

Then I tried to restructure my life according to worked for so many others. It wasn’t until I took Michele Dortch’s “Get Your Groove Back eClass*” that I was able to put things into perspective. Michele runs The Integrated Mother blog and network and provides so many tips to help working moms of all kinds figure it out. But for me it was the eClass that allowed me to focus on what I wanted and what I needed to do to make my life work.

The bottom line is this, you have to redefine what “getting it all done” means for you and not for anyone else. As much as I wanted to be supermom, I learned that my house is not always going to be neat and that dinner will sometimes have to be cereal and fruit in a bowl. My daughter, who will be four in April, HATES my computer, but she has to learn that sometimes Mommy has to work.

The biggest step that I made in the last 6-8 months is that I set a schedule. I sent an email to current clients outlining my EXACT schedule. Because my husband is off from his job Sunday-Tuesday, Sunday and Monday are our weekends. I do not work unless it is an emergency. Here are my office hours and the message I send all clients:

Sunday and Monday
Closed
Tuesday
By Appointment Only
Wednesday-Saturday
9am-10pm; 1pm-5pm

Please direct all business related calls to my business line. Voicemail and Call Forwarding are activated on this line. And as always, you can reach me by email.

I try not to work while she is awake and I am home alone. My husband schedule affords me that (he begins working at 3pm). If I need to do so, I have special activities for her just for those times. For instance, she gets to watch Wall-E on my  portable Blu-Ray player in her room. This is a treat for her because she does not have a TV in her room and NEVER gets to use the portable player. At other times I allow her to paint alone (makes her feel like a big girl) or play a game on my laptop. Don’t get me wrong, she still manages to need me the most while I’m in the midst of a call with a client, but I also inform my clients that I work from home and that every day is “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” for us.

I left teaching because I wanted to focus on my daughter and because I wanted to build a business on my terms. While I can compromise every now and again, my work hours are pretty much set in stone. You wouldn’t try to get the oil changed on you car after the garage is closed, right? It’s not different. If it’s a problem for a client, then I refer them to someone else. I would rather lose a client than lose my mind!

For house duties these are some things that help:

(1) Weekly Meal menus: plan ahead

(2) Crockpot: especially in the cold weather. We eat a lot of soup, stews, and chili. But works well for Pot roast, oatmeal and more.

(3) Counter-top electric roaster:  Cuts roasting time by almost 1 hour for a full chicken. Less energy used than the oven. Easier to clean.

(4) Homeschool Fun Basket: educational supplies/activities that daughter does n0t play with daily. Handy for emergency distraction.

(5) Music: take 10 minutes and dance like crazy with your child. Gives him attention and allows for you to get some exercise and stress-relief.

(6) Include your child in as many household activities as possible. My daughter loves shooting baskets with dirty clothes into the washer. She puts the silverware away when the dishwasher is clean. She feeds the dog.

(7) I give my daughter a damp cloth and she dust the wooden furniture. She’s been doing it since she was 2.

Jeanine, I hope this helps. There is no exact science; trial by fire is the only method that I know of for figuring this out. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Just take things day-by-day and it will work out.

April 20th, 2009

Plan it Out Thursday: The Bedroom

I know; it’s not Thursday. But, I started this project LAST Thursday and because it it a massive one, I gave myself a week to complete it all. So look for the update to this post on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Before I get to the video, let me explain exactly what the problem is with our bedroom. We moved to this apartment in April 2008. It is the nicest place we have ever lived and the only place that I really ever felt like calling home for longer than six months. So, when we moved, I vowed that I would unpack fully and decorate, and keep it clean and presentable. Of course, life does not understand these kinds of promises. We never fully unpacked and while I clean, it has never been the way that I want.

My bedroom is the messiest and the most embarrassing place in the whole place. I never let anyone in my bedroom and when I usually start cleaning it, I am so overwhelmed by the mess that I give up.

But not this time. I decided on Thursday of last week that I was going to tackle my bedroom once and for all and make sure that I declutter and make it comfortable. I wanted to document the process partly because I wanted my husband to see just how much work needed to be done and partly because I really wanted to see the difference.

The video below will show you what our room looked like 40 minutes into the cleaning process. It is not a pretty site but it will be.

January 29th, 2009

Plan It Out Thursday: Making Lists

Normally I would post this at Midnight, but I have a pinched nerve and it is very difficult for me to sit at the computer. Well, better late than never.

Are you ready to Plan it Out? If you aren’t sure what this is all about, check out my explanation from last week. And when you decide to join, please add your name and link to your Plan It Out Thursday post to  Mr. Linky below. If you add your link and DO NOT write a post about your plan, I will delete it because while I am all for link love, I can’t stand when people don’t follow directions!

Let’s talk about lists. I like to write things down and with the explosion of digital organizers, I find that I am always on the look out for ways to combine written lists with digital ones. When it comes to keeping organized, I love my PDA. I have a PalmPilot and it keeps my calendar, contacts, and to do’s all together and handy. However, I recently discovered a great new digital tool that I love. It is called SPRINGPAD, an online notebook great from organizing everything from recipes, to play-dates. I only wish that I could sync it with my PDA somehow.

I use SpringPad for everything. I have created several pads so that I can organize all areas of my life. Take a look below to see what I mean. And then head over to SpringPad’s Demo so that you can see it in action.

Do you make lists? What are your favorites list-makers to help you keep organize? Write your Plan It Out Thursday post and then add it to Mr. Linky below.

January 6th, 2009

Tackle it Tuesday: The Project Took Over

I didn’t take a picture as once we got started, I thought it best that we keep going. Lord knows that the last thing I need is another reason to procrastinate. Originally, all I wanted to do was clean my living room and rearrange the furniture so that we could move without stepping on or banging into something.

It’s funny how projects take on a mind of their own and go biserck when we least expect. I am amazed at how much we got done. And yes, I say we because my husband and our daughter, Mya who already has the energy of a 2.5 year old but has been even busier since being hopped-up on Predinsone, helped me get some things in order.

Drew and I started while she was hanging out in “OurBed” (as she likes to call it) watching Dora the Explorer. We swept, sorted and threw out everything that stood in the way of piece of mind. Mya was amazing. She made sure to dive right in and help us tackle the biggest messes under the couch.

But, in the midst of doing so, I realized that if we were going to clean right, we had to declutter to make room for the Christmas presents. We decided to go through Mya’s toys to give the stuff that she no longer played with away.

But, we also had to disinfect and clean all the toys because she had been sick a while and I wanted to make sure that we rid ourselves of stagnant flu/cold germs.

After we put Mya down for a nap, we took all of her toys out of her room and soaked them in a combination of Vinegar, Lemon Juice and Hot Water to clean them. We seperated them and packed what we were giving away in a box. We had a few broken toys/items so we threw them away if they were not usable for anything else.

Finally, the items that we were keeping were cleaned and grouped. I love
Ziploc Freezer Bags. They are durable and reuseable and are great for holding crayons, colored pencils, playdoh, train cars, toy dishes, and toy food. I use different sizes depending on exactly what I am storing in them The best part is that they are clear so Mya can see what’s in them before she plays.

My husband and Mya also cleaned her room and washed her Mega Bloks
in the tub while she bathed. It was cute and difintely killed two birds with one stone. We finished up her room by rearranging the furniture to accomdate her wooden kitchen from that we have to finish assembling.

If you made it this far, you can imagine just how tiring this all must have been. The worse part is, I am not done yet. I have a few blog entries to write, four test sites to upload to a client server, and a few emails to draft. Then I have to work out.

It is, after all, Tackle it Tuesday.