- School
- Children
- Work
Those are my 3 main obstacles because those 3 things take up a lot of my time on a daily basics. I do online classes, freelance writing and have to take care of two young ones. This can make it quite impossible to get anything else accomplished. So, far I have been able to manage working in exercising (walking daily) but it is hard to make sure I eat properly. Usually, I just have little snacks here and their throughout the day. I am hoping as time goes on things will get better.
I know there are some others who also have to balance things out as well. So, I am open to any suggestions and advice.
Victoria, how do you schedule your time? This is something I'm currently not doing very effectively myself, I admit - I like to be flexible, so I just sort of use a list of goals to accomplish on any given day, and then somehow fit it all in. But when I was going to school (just recently) I found I needed to set aside certain hours for learning, and to be consistent with those time periods. I know this is difficult to do with small children, but I also know that children benefit from routines - meals and naps at the same time every day (if they take naps), etc. Do you write when the kids are sleeping, whenever you can fit it in, or at the same time every day? Also, I don't know if you have things like grocery delivery in your area, but I use Safeway to order online and have groceries sent to my house. This saves me a lot of time, and they frequently offer free delivery (with purchase of a certain amount, or certain items).
ReplyDeleteI know that you can stick with this. You're clearly a very busy lady, and motivated to succeed. Anyone who can raise two small kids, work from home as a writer, and take online classes is a self-starter from the word go. So you GO girl!!!
I used to be good at managing time before I had the new baby. However, lately I have to get a schedule back in place. I write out goals each day but as long as I make at least $50 writing I am happy. The baby sleeps most of the day so I am able to write most of the day off and on. Then my older one he is going through changes now he thinks he is suppose to get up at 2am every morning. So I have been not getting the sleep I need and have to drink red bulls to make it through the day. Before I had a set schedule where I would get up at 7am plan out my day. Get my son up at nine have him feed and dressed by 11am. Then from 11am to 2pm I would write. We would have lunch. He would take a nap from 3:30pm until 4:30pm. His dad would come home at 5pm he would cook dinner for our son at 6. He would take a bath at 7pm go to bed at 8pm. I would write until 11pm or 12am we would have dinner then relax until we feel asleep.
ReplyDeleteI have to see if I can have groceries sent to my house that would save time. I do buy housing supplies, hygiene and clothes offline now.
You have a lot on your plate. Are there any other daily tasks you might be able to delegate? You mentioned your husband cooks dinner. Could he possible take over bath time or another task to give you time to catch a nap?
ReplyDeleteUsually I bathe our son and he gets him dressed. Now he is away on business so I am doing everything full time until he returns. That is why I have been up basically around the clock and red bulling it. If he was here I would definitely not be drinking red bulls and he would insure that I get the proper rest.
ReplyDeleteI'm a freelance writer too and one thing that I've been told is to get up and get out right away. Before I sit down at the computer to even look at an email. Even if it is just to walk to the corner for a coffee. As for snacks, I have started getting green grapes and washing the whole bunch of them and putting them in a bowl in the fridge right in front so whenever I feel like a snicky snack I just grab a handful. Frozen blueberries are good for that too!
ReplyDeleteI love fruit as well. I usually eat it on a daily basics however I have not went grocery shopping yet so I am all out of fruit at the moment.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a lot on your plate! I understand the long days and crazy schedule. What helped me the most was planning meals for the whole family on Sunday mornings using an Excel spreadsheet. Then I would grocery shop for what I needed either Sunday night or Monday morning and put a print out of the meal schedule on the fridge. Having the whole week planned ahead of time gave me some relief in figuring out dinners and lunches. If I had what I needed to cook a healthy meal then there was no excuse in making it. There are some awesome recipes online that can be made in as little as 5 minutes!
ReplyDeleteMy older sister has an insane schedule and has started to include her kid and husband on her exercise schedule. She'll bring her son on walks with her in the evenings, go on short hikes on the weekend with the whole family and play with him at the park every once in awhile.
I hope these suggestions help!