Good Morning Roots & Arrows Family,
Welcome Back! I took a bit of a break while my family was in town over the past couple of weeks. Now, I am back at it. Did y’all have a great Easter weekend? This Juggling All The Things series has been something I’ve been working on for a while and I am happy to say that this post will round it out and bring it all together. Whichever terminology sits best with ya! This is actually PART 3, where I will be sharing with you some tips to help you manage all the things.
Be sure to check out the first 2 posts in this series!
Juggling All The Things (PART 1)
Balancing All The Things (PART 2)
There are a few clips that I share over on Instagram that will give you a glimpse of what I do every morning. Most days, I try to get up at least an hour or two before my older two kids are awake. Doing this usually gives me time to water (or simply look at) my plants/indoor garden, read some in my Bible and favorite books at the moment, roll out my mat and do some much-needed yoga stretches, and have at least one cup of coffee. If I wake up early or find that I have the time, my school studies usually get done in this time as well, and I will usually work on my blog at night.
When my children wake up, they enjoy playing in their rooms for about an hour or so. Since the twins will be 2 soon, they have very recently moved into the “big kids” rooms; so, now our two girls and two boys share a room. Around 7:30-8am, I call them down for breakfast. I think they like having the morning to just wake up in peace and do their own thing a little bit, much like their Mama 😂.
I love learning new things and I am often carried by passion. This blog has been a long-time coming, a passion project of mine that had its beginnings in early 2017. I have started a few different blogs over the past few years, but this one is different. Recently, I have invested a lot of time and resources into learning the ins and outs of successful blogging from others who are currently sitting where I’d like to be one day. Writing something that could possibly impact someone else’s life is what it’s all about. Being able to reach out and help someone else on their journey through life.
That being said, this is the place that will make my wildest dreams will come true.
I Can Feel It
Well, I’m guessing the reason many of y’all are still here is because you probably have a good bit on your plate too. I’d like to share some tips with you that I have found helpful while managing all the things.
So, here we go.
1. The first thing is to make what is most important to you the main priority in your life.
For me, this is my children. Which means I make sure to spend the majority of my time with them each day. I strive to cook meals from scratch, prep fresh fruits and veggies for them to snack on. And just do the everyday running around that being a mother entail. This also means that everything else works around them.
2. Work around your main priority, not through it.
This might look like waking up earlier than usual or going to bed a little later than usual. Both of which, I do. I wake up at least a solid hour and a half before any children are ready to come down. This is harder to do when the sun rises at 5am. However, most days I’ll get up and do my little morning routine with no other obligations. Then I do my “morning things” as mentioned above and often times, I’ll be able to sit down with a coffee or hot tea before I hear the little voices and feet puddling around upstairs.
Actually, that is what I’m doing right now, I’m sitting here at 6:30am on Saturday morning (and 8pm Sat night, 6:45am Sunday morning, and 7am Tuesday morning). I try to get work some form of work done before my kiddos come down, or after they go to bed. This is how I work around my children’s awake hours. If I try to work while my children are down here with me, I feel like that is just showing them that they are not my main priority. And that feeling doesn’t sit well with me.
3. Make your work portable
In my life, this looks like having my laptop with me so I’m ready if I get the chance to write. It also looks like taking my work (laptop) to the nearest coffee shop if absolutely need to while my husband is at home with the kiddos. I keep a running list of things (ideas, names, settings, phrases) in the notes area of my phone in case I can’t get to my laptop for whatever reason.
It also means that my phone is my camera for almost all of my projects, including YouTube. I have bought the necessary gear, and I can film, edit, and post straight from my phone if I need to. I usually edit and post from my laptop, but the option is there to use my phone. This includes 2 TB of cloud storage, so I don’t have to worry about space for the longer YouTube videos. I encourage you to put in effort to keep the balance. Find ways to integrate with your work with your life without it overtaking your life.
4. Plan and work ahead of schedule
This can be easier said than done, I know. Plan out the posts you want for next week, or even next month. Work on them slowly. For example, this 3-post series has been a work in progress for about 3 weeks now. It might take some time, but that’s okay. Admittedly, I need to get better at planning things out. I have an ever-growing list of ideas to write about, even videos to record, but time is a fickle thing. When it’s gone, it is gone. That’s actually why blogging is sometimes easier for me, I can do that at any time of day or night whereas looking presentable and vlogging or recording a sit-down video is a bit trickier. All this to say, planning out your days or weeks is the best way to see all that you want to accomplish in a given amount of time.
Now,
I realize that no one might read this post right now, and that’s okay. I’m writing not just to my audience now but to the brand-new mama in 2 years’ time who may feel like she’s drowning and needs to feel like she’s not alone, maybe she’s looking for some inspiration or she just needs a few quick tips that could help her manage all the things. These posts hold information about me and where I am in my life, they also offer tips from my personal experience.
This is the type of post that I loved to read from other, more seasoned, Mamas when I was in the early days motherhood and struggling to find my creative energy among the baby food and counting diaper changes. Especially from those who have overcome struggles of all kinds and made it to the other side seemingly in one piece.
As always, thanks for sticking around.
I’ll see y’all in the next one.
Tori
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