How I Juggle Mom and Work Life While (Mostly) Keeping My Sanity | Whitney Beth Photography
 

     This is a hot topic that is debated over and over again. How to juggle mom and work life. The ever present "mom guilt" is the worst. When I'm with my kids or doing housework I think of all the photos that need editing, or emails that need replying. When I'm doing work at my computer or at a photoshoot I think of my kids needing me and feeling terrible for dropping them off at grandmas. It's been a huge adjustment since adding Fields into the mix since he's little enough that I can't just plop him in a corner with some puzzles while I work. But after a few rounds of trial and error I've found a few things that have helped my sanity.

- Set business hours. I know it can be so tempting to edit through the night or work when the kids are in bed, especially when you work from home when you own your own business. Setting business hours has been wonderful for helping compartmentalize and be able to be "on." Especially when it's late and an inquiry comes over at night. I don't have to respond right away, and it'll be there in the morning. I know that after 6 I'm a mom and a wife and I can be a business owner come morning.  

- Work on a desktop. This goes hand in hand with setting my hours. I can't just lug my desktop upstairs and work in bed, I have to go all the way down to my office to get anything done. It's helped my focus on what I'm doing right then, rather than trying to spread myself thin working on too many things at once.

- Hire out. I still struggle with this one. My business is my baby, my babies are my babies, how can I trust someone to step in and be "me." But by hiring out things - like getting an accountant, or hiring babysitters, I can focus on my tasks, be present and do a better job at what I'm doing.

- it's ok to prioritize kids over job. I'm a mom first and foremost. In an emergency, I will chose my kids over my job 100% of the time. Even if it's not an emergency, my kids come first, and that's ok. 

- Schedule out our weeks and plan out days. I know that in order for me to be a good mom, and a good business owner I have to have a clean house. I can't focus if the dishes are piled in the sink or there are muddy paw prints on the wood floor. But cleaning everything in one day used up a whole day. I made up a schedule that fits our family. Mondays are for grocery shopping, laundry and taking out all the trash. Tuesdays are bathrooms, etc. On top of that, we have a routine of things we do daily, like make the bed, wipe down the counters, do the dishes. Having a structured cleaning schedule helps break up the big task of keeping our house clean and makes me more organized and productive. 

- Set bedtimes. For the longest time, the kids would go to sleep when we did, and it worked for us. But now that they're getting older and our days are getting busier Danny and I have set bedtimes. It has been wonderful for the boys to go down earlier than us and we can spend some quality time together after our busy day. I also don't feel the need to stay up later than everyone in the house, mindlessly scrolling Instagram because I've been "momming" all day. After the boys are in bed I can use that time to unwind and still go to bed at a decent hour. 

- Know your limits. And stick to them. With as much time I spend on each client it isn't realistic for me to have dozens a month. For me, a full schedule is to have four shoots a month. That way I can give each client the attention they deserve without getting burnt out and without being a stress case mom. It stinks to have to turn away potential clients for the month, but it's worth it to me to have my sanity.

- Involve your kids. This can be with anything! I love bringing the family along to go location scouting! We make a day of it and spend it outside together, exploring new places. I also use it in the home. Jones looooves to help with things around the house. It may take 10x longer, but we are able to spend time together and it doesn't "count" as chores when he's happily helping.

- Breathe. No one has it all together. We are human. For real. Right now, this is all working for us, but who knows what it will look like in a month. The thing about trying to balance both working and being a mom is it's constantly changing. No one knows how to do this, we are all working it out together, the thing that makes a good mom and business owner is that we keep trying.