I just saw this quote and it really spoke to me, and I wanted to share it.

I’ve recently had photographers write me on Facebook and through email and ask me questions (Blows my mind btw, THANK YOU!). And in speaking to me about things they’re having trouble with or asking me questions about certain aspects of business, I’d say about 5 out of 10 always mention that they want so badly to learn or to turn their passion into a business, but they just can’t find the time.

I.totally.get.it.

It is SO time consuming running a small business and juggling home life. Unless you have a personal secretary,  maid, chef,  lion tamer… you are doing EVERYTHING. You handle the house hold AND you handle business. You run the numbers, you send the emails, you print the paperwork, you file the paperwork, you make sure uncle sam gets paid on time! The list goes on. And on. And on.

But, if you want something bad enough you MAKE time. It’s hard, trust me, I know. But, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

My kids are 2 years old. 2 year olds like to talk louder and sit closer when you have anything else going on that takes away your attention from them (if you’ve ever scheduled a phone call with me, this is why it happens during nap or bed time ;))… Needless to say, I do not get much business work done during the day. Now, just because their cute lil booties are needy, doesn’t mean that I can’t get some things done, because I absolutely can. I am capable of sending emails from my phone when I get 5 minutes here and there, and I have even written a blog while they watched a movie… but, it’s not guaranteed work time. It’s THEIR time. I am choosing to keep them at home, and If they need me, they win (and rightfully so ;))!

 

So when do I work? Outside of the times I get things done when my beautiful lil humans are awake, I’d say about 80% of the time I work when they sleep. Sometimes this is during nap time, if I don’t have a billion things to do around the house. But, most of the time it’s at night. Spring, Summer & Fall I am up late into the night (or morning? haha) working a good portion of the week (I work in the Winter, too, it’s just less frequent. ;)) Working means: culling, editing, emailing, logging finances, uploading galleries, sending out questionnaires & contracts, sending invoices, reading articles, watching videos, blogging, business face booking, etc. Sometimes, I  don’t crawl into bed until a few hours before my husband is  getting up to leave and my children are getting up to start their day (after their AMAZING 12 hour slumber… I wish I could say the same  lol).

The other 20% of work is done at sessions while they are in the care of my husband or someone else.

I’m not writing this to complain, because I LOVE what I do… And we CHOOSE to have our business and home life work this way, because it works for us! Will this always work for us? Probably not. When Nick deploys the kiddos will probably be in part time day care for me to get in some dedicated work hours during the day, so that I can get much needed sleep at night to run this ship solo ;)…

ANYHOO, I’m writing this because I want those who think they can’t to know that they CAN… if they really want it.

We aren’t all in the same boat. I know there are probably a lot of you out there with way more responsibilities and less time to spare, but if you REALLY want it… YOU CAN DO IT. I believe in you.

Here are some things that I cannot live without that help with my workflow:

*My desktop organizer. I organize and prioritize my to-do list!
I won a gift certificate for this shop so I bought this one, but you can make one if you have photoshop! Or I’m sure there are etsy vendors who create them.

*Blog stomp. I hate that I waited to buy this. haha But it saves a ton of time resizing images and making collages for Facebook & blog

*Scheduling Facebook posts. I was late in the game with this one, too! Sometimes if I have a family day or a busy day, I’ll schedule a Facebook post! handy dandy.

*My Erin Condren life planner. I color coordinate personal appointments & business appointments with stickers and allow myself a certain number of sessions a week depending on what else is going on in life. I give myself room for makeup days and editing days. I like hand written calendars, and this one is pretty 🙂

*My iPhone email app. For a lot of emails I prefer to use my computer, bc I have to attach things, and I like to type them out using ALL of my fingers. haha but sometimes, ya get a quick question in an email and having that app is a life saver to answer those!

*Machform. My contracts and questionnaires are all ready to go, with link to retainer fee payment. I just have to hand over the links to clients and BAM! done.

YOU GOT THIS!

xo

Christina