The world is full of ups and downs and many people resort to ways of making an extra coin that could help sustain their families. For those who love writing like me, they would end up in venturing to writing as a way of side hustle. You are not wrong, for this is particularly good but there lies so many challenges in the writing career. The challenge becomes even escalated if you are parenting and at the same time writing. Am here not to scare you but to offer some help through strategies that I have used to balance my parenting together with writing. Use them and you will reap good results:
● Wake up early
The early bird catches the worm. This is a true saying as waking up early routinely helps and setting the mind this way trains itself, gets used to be awake at that particular time.
● Carry out some exercises
These help to keep the body healthy such as light lifting, jogging and press ups. Exercise helps with proper blood flow, cuts down on unhealthy fats and keeps one alert due to proper circulation of fresh air to the brain.
● Write down the plan for the day
This can be done either during night time before going to bed or early in the morning. This helps you to be organized you won't have to rush up and down from the kitchen to the bathroom in an unorderly manner. Also, this allows you to move form from one activity to the next without waste of time. Remember no wasted time can be recovered.
● Spend some time with your family
This can be done particularly in meals such as breakfast and supper. Have some time to enjoy with your family since they are the biggest reason why you are getting out of your comfort zone to make ends meet. This will provide a good bonding time and you will also know what's happening, problems to fix and so forth.
● Communication
Sounds like something common to do? Or maybe you can think it at the back of your mind' I know that my children know am a busy mom' absolutely no! You need to communicate with your children and everyone in your household about your work. This will help them understand that it's not only sitting with a laptop and typing. You can try and even give them an insight of what you are writing about and they can brainstorm it. By doing this, it helped me a lot since my children are always curious and ready to offer help. They are two juniors a girl and boy 5 and 4 years respectively. Mostly my daughter likes to copy what I write hence I usually give her a book and a pen so that she can copy paste as much as she wants! But trust me, she loves this and am also able to guide her and this helps me with my parenting.
● Distribute duties
Break down activities to each and every family member in the household. In my house, everyone has a part to play. My daughter is responsible for tidying the house, clearing the table after meals and helps in washing tomatoes and cucumbers. My son does the dustbin emptying, lays food on the table and grates carrots. So everyone knows their duties. This helps to save time and am left with more time to engage in writing!
Try practicing these and you will never regret writing as you parent!
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Laura got her education from Kenya Medical Training college with a diploma in community nutrition. In her quest for leadership skills, Laura has attained training on the same from open source leadership training from Commonwealth and participated as a mentor with Melton foundation.
Laura has opened up an organization which aims to help teenage mothers to attain good nutrition for their children together with skills and entrepreneurial training among other activities.
In her free time, Laura likes to try out new recipes, nature walk, volunteering in community activities, and traveling. Laura is inspired by her husband and two kids.
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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Laura--It sounds like you are finding ways to make time for writing, despite you having lots of other responsibilities, like a family.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of writers who put a sign on their door (if they're lucky enough to have an office to write in). They could be a picture (of Mommy working) and when you're "available" to them, it could be a picture of Mommy hugging her kids, etc. If you don't have an office, perhaps color-coded signs that are folded so they stand up on the table/desk. Red--stop. Try later. Green--Come and chat.
Your daughter who loves to imitate you? She could have signs too, to show her that HER time is valuable just like yours is.
Good luck with your future writing, Laura. I look forward to hearing how you and your family celebrate your accomplishments as a writer.
Thanks alot for your comment and also on taking time to go through the article I appreciate so much
DeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you are finding time to write and teaching your family how important it is. Too many mother's put it off.
Sioux,
I love your idea about showing Laura's daughter that her time and efforts also matter. Definitely something our children need to learn!
--SueBE
Laura these are excellent tips to help parents find time to write. Continued success in all of your writing endeavors and your organization that helps teenage mothers.
ReplyDeleteLaura:
ReplyDeleteI'm a mom and writer, too, and I totally agree with the plan your day ahead of time tip. I always try to do that, and I always get more done when I do. Thanks for your post!
This is a great idea Laura keep it up and you will achieve your goals and with your determination you will make it easier and become a successful parent. Thank you so much for your wonderful ideas!
ReplyDelete