Hi Dianna,

Although I am not a Mommy I do however have a full time job while I am building my business.  I know what you mean about trying to strike a balance in your life.  I took some time out at the end of last year and decided I was tired of feeling like I was getting nothing accomplished.  I have not set out some strict timing guidelines and stick to them.  So far this has made getting things done much easier.  Here is what I have done:

Monday to Friday from 8 to 4 is strictly my full time job - except for me hour lunch which if I need to I use to do business related stuf

Monday to Friday from 4 to 7 is staging time - appointments - business related paper work etc  if needed

Saturdays - 10 to 4 is business time  after four is my time or family time

Sundays - I do not work at all -  this is family time and I don't even step foot in my office. 

So far this has been working for me.  I soon to be able to transition to full time stager and when that happens I will have to re-evaluate my time 

Diane-I have three rules (if you'll accept advice from an old empty nester like myself):

1. kids

2. husband

3. your business

That's it!

Kimberly,  Thank you for your advise.  I really should create a time schedule and stick to it.  I like the idea of a complete day off.  It seems like working from home is great and also a burden.  I am never really away from it.

Elaine,

Thank you for keeping my priorities in line!  You are right, the kids grow up too fast.  And so do the husbands.

I've decided that after tomorrow Tuesdays are only for school stuff during the day.  I'm not going to schedule clients, stagings.book keeping anymore on Tuesdays.

 Diane

 I am also a mom (4 kids under the age of 11)and  I decided that for now this cannot be a full time job. I keep a balance and always put my family first. It goes back to the old saying about being near death and asking yourself if you should have worked to build your business more or gave your husband and family more attention? For me I want to know I did the best for my family and that brings me peace. 

Shelley,

 Family is always first and appreciate your response.  What did you mean you keep a balance?  Staging and family or family things are balanced.  Just checking.  TAke care.

By balance I mean that if there is a choice between being there for my kids or taking another job, I choose my kids.

Still trying to figure this one out! My child is almost 12. I do not have a set schedule. Accomodate my clients promptly when they call. Then, rearrange my personal schedule from there. It works. Everyone is happy and healthy. Having a very supportive husband helps too!

Good luck to you! I am sure you will find your balance.

Sorry, last "blank post" was mine! Still do not understand why you can post without signing in?

Diane:

I'm at a stage of my life that I call "my time".  After raising six...and five exchange students I can remember that I thought there would never be light at the end of the Sesame Street Tunnel...Now with five grand-children I understand it's the Sponge-bob tunnel...

It is hard to balance...I still feel guilt over things I had to miss because I had to be out of town for a meeting, or things I just thought I couldn't do because I was exhausted...and then when we all get together from all over the country...I burst with pride as we laugh and tease and share all the fun "that I thought was coping" times together...

They were the best of times and now I realize they were the best of the worst times too!  Hang in there.

I'm no mommy, just a stager.  I don't know how these women do both...kudos to ya!

Staging has many business elements to it and many stagers find that knowing how to decorate a home is not enough if you want to make money at staging.  It's hard to balance and I have seen many stagers leave the industry because it takes time, a business background, money and a strong back and to make any money you have to have all of them.  I wish they would really teach this more in the classes that are producing stagers. 

Just going to work everyday is a balance to get everything done for our home and family but like with every job you have to show up. But with our job we get the reward when our client says WOW..does an banker get that same response!

Enjoy your children now because they will be grown and gone before you know it....best wishes for 2008!

Thanks for this post - I work full time and have a hard time getting it all done.  The tips you have gotten are great for me! 

Thanks for posting. 

My new challenge is trying to type while the new kitten walks all over the keyboard and bats at the little arror on the screen  Ha - wish I could bottle it's energy to use for staging!

Well this blog rings true for me.  I have a bit of a unique situation as both my husband and I run the staging business.  We have 4 boys 9 and under and balance is something we struggle with all the time.  One of the things I've learned is how to delegate.  I can't do it all.  So..I invest in hiring a cleaning crew to help with the house maintenance.  Frees up my spare time for homework, kid time etc...  It's amazing the amount of pressure it takes off.  I've hired a part time office ass't to do all the tedious book keeping stuff that drives me crazy.  I have a dedicated date night once a week, for Daddy and Mommy time.  So my best advice is to write a list of all you are responsible for and prioritize it.  See where othere can help, heck I even have my husband doing the lunches for the kids now and that's helped.  Balance, includes everyone pitching in to make a happy home, it can't all be up to you.

Lucie

Write it down. Writing a list for me always works. I have 2 daughters who are 2 and 3 yrs old. Neither are in school or daycare. I type at nap time (god willing they take em) and at evening time (assuming my husband doesnt have any complaints). I decided when I took on this business it was God, Family, career. I am a mommy first and everything else falls into place. I love making lists, Grocery, tasks, cleaning, mailing. Simple enough all you need is about 10 mins quiet time, pen and paper. Write whatever pops in your head and then catergorize it by importance and time. My biggest problem is forgetting things while I am tryiing to multi task. Lets say I go to walmart for some accessories, but I also need household items as well as birthday party invitations. Refer to my lists and I usually only forget one thing, well sometimes two. Enlist some help. Rely on friends & family, you know there is always at least one or two people who can help in a pinch but you have to be willing to ask. No one can read minds. I wish they could especially my husband! But ask and you shall receive. On the really frustrating days take a deep breath remember why you are doing this task whether it be volunteering, staging, paperwork, date night and be in the moment. Life goes fast enough we dont need to push it along. Hope any of that helps. BTW I am also a BIG encourager on making time for YOU. Even if it is a 15 min bath with a good magazine. OR  sorting pictures. whatever you can relax doing squeeze that in.

Gina-- Thank you for sharing your thoughts.  I agree, a supportive husband is the key and mine is over the top supportive.  I am truly blessed in my life with an amazing family.

 Renee,  Wow, I did not know that you have so many children and have hosted exchange students as well.  You are truly my hero!  You cannot possibly be old enough to have grandchildren...  Thank you for your mentioning how life needs to remain tongue in cheek...

Cindy,  Thank you for the kudos... kids to mark time and keep me in check when reality sets in...

Karel,  Thank you for your words of wisdom as life does pass us by if we don't stop to smell the roses.  Staging is an amazingly rewarding career and I am growing so quickly, paperwork is my worst task and I always put it off until my CPA is requesting a meeting.  LOL! 

Becky and Nicole,  I feel great about the responses I've received as well.  It is always helpful to go out in the RAIN!

Lucie, I need to delegate to my children, to my husband and create a system for the household stuff to get done.  I always feel like the laundry is continually full, dishwasher needs emptying etc.  I just need to breathe and take it as it comes.  I love the date night idea and my secret goal is to grow my staging business into a partnership with my hubby... he works too many hours in his real job.  Maybe it is I that have the real job???  WHat do you think?

Elise,  List making is a great idea, I never can remember everything when I am multi-tasking, which is always.  Thank you so much for the tips and I plan on writing down a list each morning.  I really need to use the same notepad every time, don't you think? 

Thanks to all of you for creating a clear picture for me. 

Diane Palazzo Rooms to Improve Littleton, Colorado

A notebook every time would probably be helpful, I dont know that I could keep one notebook on me at all times. I only have one notebook that I continuely write in and that is my Staging business notebook. But that generally stays in one place and does not get near the kids or it would have smiley faces all over it. =)

I have a dora notebook(how ironic) that I write a majority of my lists on, only because it doubles as a distraction for my 3yr old in the store.

A notebook every time would probably be helpful, I dont know that I could keep one notebook on me at all times. I only have one notebook that I continuely write in and that is my Staging business notebook. But that generally stays in one place and does not get near the kids or it would have smiley faces all over it. =)

I have a dora notebook(how ironic) that I write a majority of my lists on, only because it doubles as a distraction for my 3yr old in the store.

It is a challenge, but any job you had would be the same challenge.  I think sometimes because we work for ourselves and are doing it from home, etc, that we don't treat it in our heads like a job...in terms of providing ourselves with a schedule of hours to work without guilt.  I used to shut the door when I was making business phone calls and the kids would know NOT to come in.  Otherwise they had access to me, but they didn't like that I didn't have full time attention for them. 

They are the same kids, who when I changed the work schedule so I could be there at 3:30 when they got home, after about a week, got annoyed because I was so in their face.  They were preteen and teenage then, but it was liberating for me.  They came home and went to their rooms and did homework and didn't want interaction, but loved to complain when I wasn't there.  So, realize that sometimes you just can't please everyone, but you should let yourself off the guilt hook and just do the best you can.

The fact that you are thinking about it makes you such a good mom...and they are lucky to have you.  IF you worked on another job you'd be outside the home for many more hours...so what's the alternative?

Diane, You've gotten some great advice. The one thing I can add is to suggest you consider finding a staging partner. My partner has lightened my load and been there when I couldn't.

Hi Diane,

I have been a Staging Mommy for 6 years - and when I started my 4 children were ages 2-7 years old.  I was also home-schooling them.  I wrote a blog post on this early on - and I have put the link here for you to reference as it was a long one.  Hope it helps you gain some perspective on how you can wear both hats successfully!

http://activerain.com/blogsview/44356/STAGING-WITH-CHILDREN-finding

All the best - Jennie

Jennie,  Thank you very much for your comments and wow you are a busy lady!  I love how you have scheduled your children's lives and then schedule staging around it.  I only stage during the school day and in the summer, well that's another story...I too do computer stuff during the wee hours of the morning and say yes too much for everything, but i am working on creating a task list every day and implementing many of the suggestions from super star stagers like you from AR.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Diane - You are welcome.  I know that it can seem like a challenge to balance both being a parent, spouse and business owner, but you can do it.  Read the other blog I just put up about Team Building - my team was born from a need to have someone else available when I could not Stage - and it grew from there.  You will also want to find others that you can use either once in a while or formally - to help you when you are not able to be the one doing the job. 

The children are only small once.  I am still working on school projects - book reports, country reports, building dioramas, making costumes (my 12 year old son was Abe Lincoln this past week), and driving to and from events.  I would not trade that - because when children get older they look back and remember that we were there for them in small but important ways.  It goes by so fast - my oldest is 13 now - and she is a young lady in bloom.  Our boys are 12, almost 10 and 8 1/2.  They are little men in the making.  I am glad I was able to be home with them and choose what jobs I wanted to do - or not do.  There have been some crazy schedules - staging until midnight - but I do what I have to do.  So will you.  And remember to take care of yourself - we tend to put ourselves last in the care category. 

- Jennie