Today, I’m delighted to welcome work-at-home-mom Martina Kreitzer to share how she balances working at home, in the second post in my WAHM Wednesday series.
As wife to Neil, homeschooling mom to six {ages 19, 14, 10, 7, 5, and 3}, creator of Catholic Sistas and the Catholic Through The Year printable calendar, and professional often-found-up-at-church-putzing-about-for-projects-and-volunteering, somewhere along the way I crossed the line from someone at home to someone who works from home.
The change, though subtle across the timeline, was painfully evident once I looked back. I started to wonder if anyone else, like me, failed to place value on the work they did, whether it was volunteering or doing work worthy of a paycheck.
Never a stranger to being an anomaly, I soon found out that while the blog Catholic Sistas does not generate money in the usual sense like some bloggers, its work is still—duh {said to myself}—work. Classic me not making that connection! But, oh happy day to have made this discovery! This meant that it wasn’t just some hobby, but something worthy of my time… time that sorely needed to be better allocated throughout the day.
So, what {usually} works for me?
Pray
Prayer is the anchor for the day. I often find when I am feeling very overwhelmed and anxious, there is a direct correlation between my time {and quality of time, too, sometimes} that I give to our heavenly Father.
Coffee
Just after prayer, I need a giant, hot-as-the-center-of-the-earth sweetened with sweet cream cup of Joe. Because coffee.
Chores First
Ugh, gross, I’m sure you’re thinking. Me, too. But… in my mind, I can’t really begin to focus until after I’ve started laundry {thanks to FlyLady, we have a set laundry schedule of girls on Mondays, myself on Tuesdays, boys on Wednesdays, husband on Thursday, and towels and sheets on Fridays}, and done a general pick up and straighten up, sweep. I’m a strange bird in that I need a clean {enough} environment that isn’t visually distracting before I can get started with whatever needs done next.
Loose Schedule, Tight Schedule
In matters of homeschooling, we shifted from 7:30 a.m. Math, 8:30 a.m. English, to more goal-oriented schedules. Before lunch, x, y, and z needs to be tackled and done. That could include a variety of chores and subjects, but it generally works for us. Having a looser homeschool schedule actually helps us stay on track, without a level of rigidity that does not work in the Kreitzer home.
As for a tighter schedule, I learned the hard way what it was like to have my whole day derailed due to foolishly making appointments in the morning. These days, I will make appointments in the afternoon to keep our homeschool day uninterrupted as much as possible. The only exception to this would be an emergency or my appointments with my spiritual director, whom I meet with monthly and long before we start school, anyway.
Bless God and He Will Bless Your Time
It was only when I learned to embrace my primary role as wife and mother, that I saw God bless the fruits of my endeavors. He knows how limited my time is for the things I love to do {my blogging and volunteering}, so when I take care of my less exciting responsibilities, I find the time I do have for the rest is always incredibly blessed and super productive!
To make sure I utilize my time wisely, I created my planner to be as versatile and customizable as possible. I also have a blogger bundle that I use religiously to keep my goals and ideas logged and on track. As for managing the blog, I find that my time working on that has to work around schooling and chores. It often happens during naps {no, not my own! 😉 } and after the kids go down for bed. I try not to sacrifice a good night’s rest for anything, too.
What are some things YOU do to balance home and work?
Are you a WAHM? Do you have some tips to share with other WAHMs? Please email me at bway_writer at yahoo.ca about guest posting here!
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