Like you, I get a lot of my work done when they’re at school or after they’re in bed at night. Sometimes, routines seem to find me rather than the other way around. I’ve found I naturally seem to do more around the house in the morning and find my desk later in the day.

I love reading about what others are doing to work despite challenges of children, family, or even disability. It helps us put perspective on our own situation and to realize, we can do anything with the right commitment to purpose.
Rebecca Laffar-Smith shares: Simple Saviours: The Notebook and Pen

It definitely isn’t easy and thankfully I have a job which has decent amount of downtime and allows me to write during those quieter moments. I’m not an extremely organized individual, but I’m working on keeping better lists and I have a wonderful wife who really supports me and enables me to work and write. Also, my children are all in school during the day so I do the majority of my writing then and at night when they’re asleep. I’m still finding my routine, but articles like this help me stay focused on becoming more efficient.

@Kimberlee: It sure is tough to balance. I think, because we work from home, it is too easy to blur the lines. It is easy to spend more time ‘working’ than playing because the work is always right there.

Some freelancers recommend setting official business hours and putting a closed sign on their office door to remind them of those hours. It’s not realistic for me (and I suspect most writers) because I need to work when the energy for it is high. But it does mean I have to be more conscious of the time I spend amongst the family.

On thing I’ve found, is the more time I spend doing things like housework and spending time with the kids the more energy, enthusiasm, and inspiration I have for my work.

Speaking of ‘Craving Balance’, my friend and favorite life coach, Lisa Gates launched her “Craving Balance Learning Community“. If you’ve been struggling with the juggling act you’ll love this community. If you join up make sure you friend me there.
Rebecca Laffar-Smith shares: A Time To Be Thankful

You are the freaken cup…

Probably doesn’t make sense until you read the following…

Have you ever wondered what makes some people capable of doing extraordinary, sometimes impossible looking things? What makes that person jump into the water to save a drowning victim, while others stand by and watch? What makes another person stand up for a cause they believe in, against what appears to be amazing odds? I’ve asked myself questions like these most of my life. Even as a child, I wondered why people do the things they do.

Perhaps the bigger question is why don’t people do the things they can do?

The answer begins with exploring what keeps people stuck. The first place we commonly go to is that we’re missing something, we don’t have what we need. We need more of everything – you name it, we need it: more time, money, energy, information, certainty, resources. Without these, we tell ourselves, we can’t do what we want to do.

That is the greatest lie of our times – this underlying assumption that we don’t have what we need (or think we need, I suffer from this very badly). This perception of lack is the biggest source of unhappiness and dissatisfaction in the world today. It causes us to dream about “becoming” something, to hold out for doing that one big, audacious thing that is so big and audacious that we can’t see a way to do it!

We have fallen in love with the idea of becoming and it is keeping us small. We are on an endless search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, all the while not realizing that we are standing on the pot of gold. Many people travel their entire lives on this journey, longing to find themselves out there, when, in fact where they’ve really lost themselves is in here (me).

You are the Significance you’ve been waiting for as in you yourself (matt knows this and shows it).

Nobody’s going to bring it to you, solve it for you, or make it all better. Ultimately, we are the ones we have been waiting for. It is up to us to be who we are.

And when is there ever a time when being yourself doesn’t matter? The reason people find themselves getting stuck is because they don’t think who they are ~ is enough – enough to get that promotion, enough to close that next big account, enough to be financially independent. This scarcity causes resistance and any time we are stuck, we are resisting the way things are in one way or another.

When I talk about doing what we can do, I don’t mean rolling out of bed in the morning and living life like normal. I’m talking about living into our greatness — being fully, completely, vibrantly alive. I’m talking about doing the thing you were born to do. Being your greatest self is the gift you give to the world. Not being your greatest self deprives the world of what you are here to give. There’s nothing sexy or glamorous about that.

Possessing these traits is more than believing that there is enough to go around. Here is an analogy:

People living in scarcity see the cup as half empty.
People who are positive thinkers see the cup as half full.
People living abundantly see the cup as overflowing.
But people Living into their Greatness ARE the cup.

What’s keeping you from seeing yourself as “The Cup”?

Thanks for this post! I needed that!

~Kim
Kimberlee Ferrell shares: Tarot for the Tired, or Yes, Another Energy Spread

Thanks,

-Perry

A mother of five! Congratulations on still being able to do anything you enjoy with that many underfoot.

One of the rules I’ve learned since writing this article in 2007 is to be firm with myself. I have to commit to making time for my career, for my writing. If I remain steadfast and determined my family falls into step, if I waver, they’ll walk all over my resolve. Self-discipline comes first, and with self-discipline I’ve found I have a lot less child discipline to do.
Rebecca Laffar-Smith shares: Have your WordPress blog Ping.fm