This last week has seen several evenings of me editing photos on my laptop, working through the many (MANY!) gorgeous photos from the most recent birth. A little someone decided he didn't want to sleep and snuck out of bed to come "help" me edit. I thought if I ignored him he may get bored and go back to sleep but he just draped himself over my shoulders and admired the cute new baby in the pictures.
Our family homeschools, and we've officially kicked off another school year this month (though we school year round.) This symbolic new start has given me an opportunity to assess my teaching goals as well as my professional boundaries. With each change in our life schedule I have to determine how to best meet my family's needs, my clients' needs, and make sure somewhere in there I get some downtime and sleep! With the new academic year there are programs my children return to, which means our schedule is more regulated. In addition to their programs I'm participating in a new training this fall, requiring readings & coursework with actual deadlines. I'm also teaching the group childbirth class, along with numerous private childbirth classes this semester. Eeks! Busy, busy. 🙂
Because of these commitments I've decided to set a work schedule for myself, and designate time each day during which I will tackle everything from emails to website work, answering phone calls to photo editing. It means my emails will not be answered within the hour, blog posts may be fewer, and my photo turnaround is going to be a little slower. But striving for this balance helps me to truly focus - when I'm with my children working on their academics I am giving them my undivided attention. When I sit down to focus on my professional work I know my children are taken care of and I can give my clients my full focus. I am feeling less distracted all around, which will help me better serve in general. It feels good!!