It's a Balancing Act

Husband
Work
Kids
God
Friends
Family
Hobbies
Housework
Fun
And More...

It's a balancing act, to keep all of your responsibilities and have some time to yourself, as well. In my case, my hobby has now become my work. But I want to keep it fun! I have been pondering the question of how to balance everything I want to do, and everything I need to do, with my new business. Here's a few thoughts (mostly for me, but I welcome your input!):

~Take some time off! Working at home is a unique challenge, especially while being a full-time mommy. I want to devote most of my time to raising my children. Yet I also want to have a separate identity, and something that is uniquely my own. It's hard to take time off work that has no start and end time, no 9 to 5 schedule. And you can't leave work at work...it's always around you and there is always opportunity to do something! I have had to be diligent about taking time off (I try to always take Sundays off) and concentrate on other parts of my life during that time.

~Don't neglect what's important! For me, this is God, my husband, and my kids. These three things must be right before anything else can be.

• This means, no work while I'm watching the kids. I try to only work while they are sleeping or while my husband is watching them. This doesn't always happen, but it's a good goal. Sometimes there are things I must do, like ship a package, or finish a project, but I don't want it to become a habit to work so much that I neglect the special time I have with my kids right now. Being home with them while they are young is such a special gift, and I don't want to waste that time.
• For my time with my hubby, I need to make sure to schedule (or set aside) time in the evenings to put down my knitting and focus on us! For those of you who have been married for a while, you know that this can be hard. Doing life together is work, and sometimes you want to veg. That is good, but it's also important to spend time together without outside distractions.
• God - this is so important to me and one that I have been neglecting. I am trying to spend less time on the computer on unimportant tasks (this includes Facebook, online games, Twitter, etc.). I want the only time I spend on the computer to be work and e-mail correspondence. My hope is that this will allow me more time to study His word, pray, and meditate. This is a continued focus of my life right now and one I really need to work on!

~Make some time for fun! Friday nights out with friends, spending Sunday afternoons with family, watching movies, playing outside with my kids. All important things that I need to make time for.

And what about you, dear reader? How do you manage to balance all of your responsibilities with your work?