Balancing Life

-
Photo Cred: Monica Brown


Balancing your family and work is tricky at best. As a writer, I am plotting one manuscript, writing another, and editing yet another all while promoting the most current book. How do I balance that with all the demands of a wife and mother? One word: Prioritize.

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I ask myself is what time shall I take my nap. Just kidding. Mostly. Actually nearly every week for several years, I write a list of priorities for that week, sometimes by the day. Anything with a deadline has priority, and anything not done will be moved to the next week. (I've had some things that have moved from week to week for several weeks until the items just fall of my lists completely.)

The one thing I prioritize is family time. This comes in the form of family scriptures and family prayer. Family meals get tricky with busy evenings, but we try for them.

I also prioritize my personal time to refill and recharge. Every morning I spend fifteen minutes in personal spiritual study/meditation and prayer. I also exercise daily for physical and mental health replenishment. I find if I don't do these things, I am not nearly as effective at wifing, mothering or writing.

The last thing I prioritize is time with my husband. He works a demanding job. We both volunteer time to our church. Making sure we connect is a priority. As a couple, we also take time to read the scriptures and pray every day. We also make sure we have a weekly date. Often the "date" is my husband reading my latest WIP and giving me ideas.

If I make sure I prioritize properly, then everything else falls into place nicely. Anything falling off the list, falls off the list.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top Ten Tips for Fighting Discouragement

-
I asked my most ardent fans (my daughter and my husband) what I should write about on my blog and my daughter said I should write about encouraging others to keep writing. I feel like I've learned a lot in writing for the past ten years, and I'd love to share. Writing, and almost any other creative endeavor is a long process. From the spiritual creation or idea of it until its execution and finished product can take months if not years. Keeping going during that time can become a challenge. Here are my tips to stay motivated. 1. Remember why you started in the first place. I am a storyteller. I always have been. I'm horrid at asking questions but learning. But I think of funny scenarios. I'm the dreamer. Someone tells me a detail and I create a story. I don't write for the royalty check. I don't write to be famous-- although that would be nice. I write because I believe fiction can heal. I write because I believe we all need to safely escape. I write becaus
Read more

Spring Break Bookaplaooza book feature

-
Image
Need a book to read this spring? Are you having a book slump? Need to find a new author to enjoy? Looking for sassy heroines, alpha males, tissue romances, or a feel-good, funny read? Well, I have just the thing for you! Enter the Spring Break Bookapalooza. Be sure to click on this link to check it out. My romantic suspense book Baker's Dozen is being featured today! I talk about my dream spring break (hint: it's in France) and what I love about spring. And while you are there, check out many of the other authors featured on the site. You may find something that catches your eye. Leave a comment to interact with the authors and let them know what you think about their cover, their except or their dream spring break. Many of these authors are also published under my publisher, The Wild Rose Press. PLUS you can enter to win one of many Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift cards with this link to the rafflecopter contest. You can earn bonus entries by following participating aut
Read more

At what point do you call yourself a writer?

-
When I was nine years old, I took a piece of blue construction paper and stapled it around some blank computer paper. I titled the book, Young Author. I didn't know what I was going to write in there, but I knew it was going to be good! I wanted to write mysteries. I read a whole lot of Nancy Drew at the time, everything in the local library and bought a few dozen more with my own money. (My daughter has them on her bookshelf as I write this--no way was I getting rid of those.) I attended a few workshops, dreamed, scribbled in notebooks, started a dozen stories, wrote a play (in fourth grade) and a scene I took to drama competition, took some Creative Writing classes in college. But it wasn't until nine years ago that I decided I was going to do it. I had read a book that contradicted the thought that I had to be wildly talented to get published (a popular belief that I held or held me back), I only had to work hard, gain experience, and learn skills. In roughly ten years,
Read more