Balance, Schedules, Making it Work

Yesterday, I received a really nice email about how much I get done and some questions about any tips I might have so I thought it might be a good idea to share some of my thoughts and ideas with all of you. Please know that this is what works for me and your mileage might vary.

First of all, there are many many many things I don’t get done. Many! I don’t cook or clean or do most of the household chores many people do. My kids do not have after-school activities and rarely go on playdates. My days are pretty similar to each other and allow for consistency. Even though I work at home, I have quite a demanding full-time job so I don’t commit to anything during work-hours. My kids know and understand that even though I am around, during the day my job takes priority and most of the time they are respectful of that and play independently. But I also get to spend a lot of time with my kids during the day.

One of the things I have is a relatively strict and consistent schedule. This changes with each school year and during the summer. But here’s my schedule at the moment:

5:30-6:00am – wake up and immediately exercise (I check email while I exercise)
6:00-6:30am – done with exercise, shower, write in journal
6:30-7:00am – start sketching
7:00-7:25am – prepare lunches, breakfast, wake up kids, read to David while he eats
7:25-7:45am – continue sketching
7:45am-8:30am – drive kids to school
8:30-9:00am – finish sketching, take photo of sketch
9am-5:30pm – work, eat lunch, walk to pickup Nathaniel from school, make lunch for him, etc.
5:30-6:30pm – kids bedtime routine and write blog post
6:30-7:30pm – write in weeklong art journal then start daily art journal page (sometimes David reads to me while I do art.)
7:30-8:00 or so – kids are down, finish off art journal page. if I have a layout due, I work on that instead of art journal page
8:00-10:00pm – hang out with hubby, read book, do a layout, watch TV whatever. This is extra time for me to do whatever I want.
10pm – go to bed.

Some of these change a bit. Like sometimes the blogging takes longer or I finish the sketch more quickly, etc. But I always exercise first thing and I rarely ever go to bed past 10. I often sleep around 9:30 to try to get a full 8 hours of sleep. I wake up at least once a night and take David to the bathroom. I am not a morning person. I changed my schedule because I found that most nights I am too tired to motivate myself. By the end of the day I feel worn out and I am more likely to sit in front of the TV rather than sketch. Whereas if I woke up early, while it was unpleasant, there was no one to bother me or to worry about. I could do my stuff, start my day on the right foot and by the time the household woke up I felt like I already did a few wonderful things for myself that day.

so there you have it. On the weekends, it’s pretty similar except I wake up around 7am and go to bed around 11. Instead of working, I will do more art, layouts, and hang out with my family.

Since I was asked for some tips, here is what I came up with that works for me. They are not in order:

1. Set a schedule: I find that having something scheduled for a particular time always works for me. I am not a roll-with-it kind of girl so having something on my schedule makes it more real and tangible and often means I get it done. It also gives my activity validation and value.

2. Schedule short bursts of time: I try to not have any activity that needs more than 30 mins. My exercise is 20 minutes, journaling is around 20 mins and reading to David is the same. The sketching takes a bit longer but I break it up so I draw for 20 mins and color for 20 mins and write for 10 mins so I can do them throughout the day if needed. I reserve time consuming activities for the end of the day so I don’t feel like I used up a lot of my day and have to stress. I feel trying to find a 30-minute slot in your day feels a lot less overwhelming than finding a 2-hour slot. If you take 15 minutes a day to do art journaling, it’s still MUCH better than no time. And 15 minutes a day adds up to almost 2 hours a week. Whereas if you don’t let yourself do it unless you have a 2-hour block, you might not art journal for weeks. There are many things you can do in a 15minute slot, if this is stressing you out, let me know and I’ll make a post with ideas.

3. Batch up a few activities to do during your “you time:” I do most of my personal goals during two slots in the day. 5:30am-7:30am and 6:30pm-8pm. That’s 3.5 hours during which I don’t have work and my kids are sleeping. I specifically wake up before my kids wake up to use some quiet time to get my personal goals done. I am NOT a morning person but I know that starting my day like this is incredibly peaceful for me so I do it. Most of us have some down time during the day. Maybe it’s your lunch hour. Try to divide the hour into two 30 minute slots and do two things. You can read for 30minutes and art journal for 30 minutes. You can eat while you read. I find that doing a few things in a row helps me more than doing one thing for a long period.

4. Eat the frog: The concept of eating the frog means doing an important to-do list item that you’re dreading. For me, this is the exercise. I dread it and it’s the most important thing I do for myself everyday. So I get up and I do it first thing. This means if the rest of my day goes downhill and my schedule goes out the window, I still did the most important thing. I do it well before work hours and well before my kids wake up so the chances of something interfering with it are low. Eating the frog means I start my day with a big win.

5. Just do it: Stop making excuses. Stop saying you don’t have the time. I have never ever met someone who doesn’t have 15 free minutes in their day. You can draw 15 minutes a day or read or art journal or learn something new a bit at a time. When you just sit and do it, you suddenly discover you have a lot more time than you think you do. If you get in the habit of not making excuses, you end up getting more done and that motivates you to do even more. It’s a positive cycle to be in so you just have to kickstart it by sitting at a table and doing something for 15 minutes.

6. Make the Time: Similarly to the previous one. There will never be time in your day unless you make it. Look for the holes. Wake up earlier. Go to bed later. Eat lunch in half the time. Clean a little bit less. Whatever it takes. If what you want to do is important to you, create the time. Steal it away from something else. You matter and what you want to do matters so create time however you need to.

7. Talk to your family/friends: If you have friends or family, husband, kids who depend on you, talk to them. Tell them why it’s important for you to take this time for yourself. Why it matters. My kids know that even if they wake up before 7am, it’s mommy’s quiet time and they play quietly on their own while I do my journaling or sketching. Seeing me value this time for myself shows them that it matters to me so they learn to respect it, too. Respect and value starts with you. If you’re always willing to postpone activities that bring you joy so someone else can have what they want, you’re telling them your personal joy doesn’t matter as much. I think there needs to be a balance and mutual respect. Some kids are too young to understand but most aren’t. In my opinion, of course.

8. Find What motivates you: I am motivated by schedules. I rarely feel in the mood to do something. Inertia is very strong for me. So Getting up to sit at my table and starting the activity motivates me more than anything else. So I just do it cause my schedule says I have to. And once I start I am in the zone and enjoy it. But getting started only happens because it’s on my schedule. Classes motivate me, too. I am a good student and take homework seriously. So I take a lot of classes because I know it helps me journal and do art. For some people it’s having a buddy. An exercise buddy, an art buddy etc. For others it’s having a personal, quiet space. Or really loud music. Whatever it is for you, figure it out and use it to your advantage. Another thing that helps me is being prepared. I generally have an idea of my sketch subject the night before so when I sit to sketch, I am not looking for ideas. I don’t do this for art journaling or layouts but I do it regularly for sketching.

9. Track Progress: For me, this does wonders. I track my exercise with the nike+ and fitbit. I track my sketches and art journaling by posting them here weekly. I have daily tasks lists with all my recurring activities so I make sure to cross them off each day. Seeing progress really helps me so I do it. I track books that David and I read, too. And we both love looking at the little book full of all the cards we made with each book we read. It’s very rewarding and I recommend it.

10. Create Rewards and Celebrate: This may sound touchy-feely but rewards are a big part of self-motivation. I reward my exercise by buying a piece of clothing each month. I buy art supplies or sign up for online classes regularly. I use income from my classes or designer work to buy supplies or classes so I am rewarding myself for working hard and keeping an art practice. Take the time to celebrate and congratulate yourself. Being disciplined is hard. But truly worthwhile.

Well this is really really long, I hope it’s helpful. Remember that it’s just what works for me. I prioritize these things over other things because this is what matters to me. Find out what matters to you. And if art journaling doesn’t matter enough to you to create time over it, do not chastise yourself. I think a big part of this is owning up to what you like and what you don’t. Earlier this month, I had allotted 15 minutes of my day to writing a book. But I quickly realized I never enjoyed that time and even though I would love having written a book, I didn’t like actually writing it. So I walked away from it. During this you-time, don’t try to do what you think you should. Do only the things you love and things that truly make you feel good.

Remember that your time is super-precious and runs out each and every day. So use it however it makes you feel most fulfilled.