The struggle is real . . . . oh my goodness

February 2, 2016

Do you ever have those moments where you wish there were more hours in the day? Or if you could just snap your fingers and *BAM*, everything is done and you didn't even have to break a sweat?

Oh yeah, I have been there. Shoot, there are STILL days that my coffee cup needs to have an auto re-fill button on it.

I am constantly asked how I balance work and being a mom and while I would love to tell you that I have it altogether and even a a secret formula, I am just your average girl who is trying to make it one day at a time. Being a mom is hard work and being a business owner is also hard work to add on top of it.

Here are a few points that I thought I'd share that help me.

Work Hours? I typically do my work at night after the kids go to bed. This gives me a good three to four hours of solid working time. (as long as I keep focused......fb anyone?) Also, waking up before my clan gets up is a good time to get some uninterrupted work done.
Plan Ahead- Do you blog? Do you post on facebook, google+, twitter, 500px, flickr, etc? While not every social network gives the luxury of planning out your week, blogs and facebook do. Start at the beginning of the week and write a couple blog posts/picture posts and schedule what day and time you want them to post. This gives you breathing room to work on other things while your blog is still being maintained. Facebook offers the same option as well. (just check right underneath your status and when you press the little clock button, you can set the date and time you want to share). For FB, this is such a valuable option. As you may know, the more you can post on FB, the more others begin to see posts, and if you can schedule your posts, this frees up a good chunk of time.
Set Boundaries - Learn to say "No" to extra/unnecessary things that would take you away from your family time and work time. Also, when it's your "time-off", make sure you turn off the computer and possibly that little cell phone of yours too so you can enjoy your time with family/friends. It's amazing how unplugging for even a few hours can re-energize your creativity and energy to work.
Work Productivity - Whether it is cranking the tunes or having complete silence while you work, find what helps you focus. I personally love to have the music blaring and the lights down low while I do my post processing.
Find Your Workflow - One full session typically takes me 2-3 hours straight to process and that includes approx. 65 images that are processed in both black and white and color. I seldom work in Lightroom, but when I do, I use my PRESETS. I mostly spend my time in either Creative Cloud or Adobe Photoshop CS6 (basically the same thing) and I apply my ACTIONS and SKIES to speed up my workflow.