Today, as I was looking around online to see how other home – based professional parents manage to balance family, home, and business, I came across a very interesting tip on the Simple Mom blog. According to Mandi, who wrote the blog post, the secret to success for home – based professional parents is getting things done ahead of time.
Of course, this advice had me scratching my head for a good few minutes while I let the idea sink in. Get things done ahead of time? As in having all of my blog posts written before the last day of the month? My court appearances prepared for before the night before? That sure sounds appealing, but how could I make it happen? Intrigued, I read on.
How exactly does one get things done ahead of time while caring full time for a three year old, a six month old, and a house? And the things that I take care of for myself and for my husband, because those count too. According to Mandi, it’s not just the business things that can get done early. Many household tasks can get done early, too.
As I read on, my world began to turn on its head. You see, my day begins around eight or nine in the morning, when one of my boys decides to wake up. I get out of bed with whomever is awake and start the day. Not much gets done in the housework or work department until about eight thirty in the evening, when the boys go to bed. Sometimes I manage to wash some dishes or do a load of laundy, but not often. Once the boys are sleeping, it’s go, go, go with work and household chores until about one or two in the morning. By then, my husband is usually home from work and we can catch up and chat before going to bed.
I’m used to the schedule that I keep, so I don’t think that I’ll make any massive changes, but I do have a nagging feeling that I can do better than I’m doing right now. What if I take the advice in Mandi’s blog post and use it to tweak my day just a little bit? Taking things like meal planning and advance food prep that I aspire to a little more seriously so that they actually get done instead of dreamed about. Folding and putting away that laundry as soon as it is dry. Getting back into washing dishes with my son instead of waiting until after he goes to bed because it is “easier” then. Scheduling my work so that it gets done earlier instead of just in time. Yeah, I can try that. I have little to lose and much to gain. What about you? Are there things that you can get done early to help your work – life balance feel a little more balanced?
Photo by ppdigital on morguefile.com.