Time Crunch

I just realized something.  This is not going to be easy.  My life is getting busy and my motivation to develop these income sources is being re-directed.

I need to carve time out of my life where I can work on personal things, like creating a life size representation of my son for the post graduation senior party, without feeling like I should be working on a writing assignment or booking a Stella & Dot trunk show.  And I need to feel free to make business calls and learn about monetizing web sites without feeling like I have abandoned my family.  By knowing I have set aside time for both I can be free to immerse myself in each task without thinking about the other.

So this week I didn't do much.  I have been learning new things at my outside employment which used up a lot of my energy.  I had hoped to be able to report on my writing assignment but so far there isn't too much to report.

The writing assignment is basically going to involve me writing some marketing materials for a new company.  Part of me wants to flee at the idea but every time I sit down to do a little research on what they are asking for I find myself thinking, "well, I can do that."  This is definitely going to be an education.  I expect my hourly rate when I am done with this assignment to be just pennies but I am excited to learn enough to take on future assignment where I might be able to make nickles or quarters an hour and just keep learning and writing as I add to the monthly total.

So this week I am working on my new schedule.

 Mondays are for meetings.  I am meeting with a couple women on various Mondays, sales meetings for Stella & Dot and then the 4th Monday will be free for whomever comes along that I might want to grab a cup of coffee with.

Tuesday nights are open either for a Stella & Dot trunk show or to work at home.  I am going to engage in family time until at least 7pm on nights I am home before I allow myself to get distracted with writing or research or whatever.

Wednesday nights are for my daughter, she desperately needs a night she knows she can count on me to treat her like the center of the universe.  Luckily she is pretty easy.  Swim in the pool at the Y and then home for a smoothie.  Although tomorrow night we are going to spend her birthday gift card at Barnes & Noble.  My kind of girl.

Thursday nights have been date night at our house for years.  When careers and kids are all gone, your spouse remains.  At least that is the plan, so we always find a few hours on Thursday nights to drink coffee and unload our thoughts for the week.  Sometimes it is the only opportunity we have to say more than a few passing words the whole week.

Friday night is typically what we call "free pizza Friday".  It is supposed to be free because my parents buy it but apparently we are turning into the grown ups and so we buy some weeks too.  Especially when they are in Florida all winter!  As Jake gets older we encourage him to invite friends over to join us.  We want to maintain this night as a family night and find more intentionality in our activities that night.

Which leaves the weekend to do, well, EVERYTHING!  Which is sort of OK because it is hard for me to be particularly productive after work.  I just want to be home with my family.  But that means I need a work schedule for my Saturdays and Sundays.  When am I going to work and how long am I going to work?

I will be working on and tweaking this schedule for a while but I think I can find a routine that works for all of us.  And just when I find it I will be ready to cut back my outside work hours and will have to rethink the schedule all over again.  It is never ending.  But as long as I keep my priorities in mind I am sure to be able to figure it out.

So no addition to the monthly total this week.  I suspect no additional totals the rest of this month but, next month is shaping up to be busy with trunk shows, and I should be into working on the writing assignment by then as well.  Each month builds on the one before.  Can't wait to see what happens next.