thoughts :: balancing dreams and the dream we live
Wednesday, September 28, 2011 by {darlene}

I am brewing up so many things over here at Fieldstone Hill. I wish there were time to share everything! But for a tiny taste of what is to come:

  1. I am working diligently on creating my testimonial page.
  2. I thinking about having a Monthly Giveaway for my awesome readers. Do free Single-Design questions sound good to anyone??
  3. I plan on sharing some pics of two in-progress rooms in my own home.
  4. I need to blog about my latest Design Board!!
  5. And I have another idea up my sleeve that has been in my mind since the conception of Fieldstone Hill, but has yet to be finished, but has something to do with a blog-roll…

Ah, if only there were 40 hours in a day.

As it is, I have been lucky enough to stop typing this post 3 times so I can enjoy the every day buzz of family life, including a fun time with all of us laughing and singing and swinging on the swing set. And while I have so many exciting and grand plans for Fieldstone Hill Design, I am choosing to make moment by moment decisions that put my family first. Not always easy, but always good and worthy. How quickly these moments pass!

Here is the REAL list in my life:

  1. God
  2. Immediate Family
  3. Loved ones/Friends
  4. Clients
  5. Me time

How about you? So many of us struggle with balancing dreams and family.

But if you are like me, we forget that our family was once a dream of ours that we are now blessed enough to enjoy. I have to be VERY intentional about that “Real” list I just shared. Very.

The truth is, I falter. I let my family down. I don’t always put First things First. BUT, with God’s help, I get better and better at making that list the reality of my life. For me, it boils down to the simple acts like:

  1. turning my computer COMPLETELY off when I have just finished my work time.
  2. keeping a schedule that includes structured “mommy time” {where the kids know I cannot be interrupted unless it is urgent; they also have ‘quiet time’ during this time.}. I have two times like this: 3o minutes first thing in the morning, and 1.5 hours in the afternoon.
  3. vowing not to say: “hold on” or “in a minute” during the other times of the day as a result of having my face in the computer. I don’t always succeed at this, but I keep on trying and will never stop trying!
  4. I do most of my client projects and blog work after 8 pm/bedtime.
  5. I don’t keep twitter on. I just log-on for a quick chirp about 4x/week.
This is what works for me. Most of the time.

I would love to hear about the things that you do to balance blogging or an at-home business, with those things that matter most. I cherish your thoughts.

and I leave you with this picture {photo credit: Allenaim Photography}. It is a favorite of mine:
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Labeled: beautiful thoughts, here at Fieldstone Hill

13 Comments

  • This was perfect timing for me because I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my life had gotten way out of balance – not enough FOCUSED time with my kids (ie computer OFF), not enough healthy food, exercise, etc… Even though it’s not January I made a short list this morning of resolutions – some big (like focused QT with my kids regularly) and some small (like wash my face every night!) to hopefully get some things back in balance…:)

    Reply

  • I love your priority list. Mine is very simple, me and family is number one and then everything else is joint second. I will drop anything if it will affect me and my family. Blogging takes a lot of time and recently I haven’t been good at prioritising it – life has got in the way!
    I think I will give your rules a try. Maybe scheduling some blogging time would help. Great post Darlene.

    ~ Pru

    Reply

  • Oh my Darlene, being a new blogger as you know, I am so guilty of having my face buried in the computer….not just “blogging” but figuring out social media & web design! Shutting off my computer (I have actually considered putting it in my car….out of the house) is something I NEED to do. My house, laundry & time with my little man has suffered. I am guilty of all these things. Thank you for posting….I will get my act together & share my plan…..thankfully, I’ve only been like this for 1 month and a week 🙂 I can see how this small amount though can turn into years if you are not careful!

    Reply

  • the last few days I’ve been telling myself to “be intentional”. Life is crazy right now and about to get crazier, so I’ve got to get my priorities straight! this post came at a great time; thank you!

    Reply

  • I love your priority list. When you put God first, everything else falls into place.

    Reply

  • I try really hard to stop working once the girls get off the bus in the afternoon. I don’t always succeed, but I still try. I’m also trying my best to get ahead on my blogging schedule. As my client list grows, it gets harder and harder to finish my posts. If I could get a few posts in the que, I really think it would take some of the pressure off.
    Thanks for this post, Darlene. It really helps me to hear about how other’s do things.

    Reply

  • The family picture at the bottom of this post is worth MORE than a thousand words. The four people in that picture are COMPLETELY worth any sacrifice you have to make to be fully present. There is so much happiness and joy captured in that photograph. I am blessed by it!!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply