If you have been keeping up with my Cross Blog Conversation with Erin over at Mom’s Resource Blog, then you know that we are just kinda chatting about life in general. Erin posted a great answer to my question about paying it forward. Now it is my turn to answer her question about balance.

Erin asked…

You have (I hope I counted correctly) 6 different websites ranging from blogs to businesses. Whew! How do you find balance in your life? Was it difficult for you in the beginning to find that balance, too? How long did it take you to feel comfortable in the WAHM role? Do you have any tips on time management and prioritizing?

ROTFL! Erin can I just be honest with you and say that in and of myself, I don’t do a good job at all. Just this past week I missed a very important interview and it really bothered me. I am glad it was a team of people and that I was not the one they were relying on; but nonetheless it bugged me to no ends.

It is only by carefully organizing myself that I find the balance. Also the ability to outsource and delegate is a HUGE help. Mostly though, for me it is God’s grace that has kept me thus far and will to the end I am sure.

Having my family around to help me and letting them know, “Hey I am not an island and I cannot take care of this house all by myself”, has helped them to see that we are a team. In a team we all do our part. As stay at home moms, we often think that just because the man works out of the home, that we are to do it all in the home. Not so. It took me a few years to see that that was really backwards thinking. So we work as a team. There is no “I” in team.

I also try to keep a schedule but I am not the best at it, so I have hired a VA to help me with it. I don’t like feeling confined to anything and a schedule is confinement to me. I am working on it day by day, one step at a time.

As far as feeling comfortable with being a WAHM, I think it has always been in me as I have worked from home before when my oldest was little and wanted to be home with him. I owned a day care and sold Avon for about 4 years. So getting into the groove of the role again was easy peasy

Balance is not something that comes instantaneously. It comes with practice, effort, and daily determination. There are some days when I fail at being balanced and some days when I am great with it. For me I know that my health is affected by my lack of balance so I am working hard at keeping the balance.

Time management is a personal thing and the way people balance their time is determined by what their lifestyle is like. For a mom with all young kids, I can imagine that their time management is different than mine because I only have one young child at home. My teenager is now a senior in highschool and no longer needs mom to spoon feed him. Plus he can help around the house and this frees my time up.

So my tips for time managment are:

• Take a look at your lifestyle, sit down take some notes and figure out what works for your family.
• Pace yourself so that you are not taking too much time with any one thing. Balance is about finding space for everything.
• If you are a mom to all little ones, please don’t neglect them by making the tv and toys your instant babysitter. As mom to little ones you are needed in that arena more than you will ever know.
• Don’t be an Island! Ask for help and let your family know that you are not “Molly the Maid” and that the home is everyone’s home. Therefore everyone needs to pitch in a bit.
• Love yourself enough to know that time is one of the most precious gifts you have to manage and it is up to you to make the difference in how your time is balanced.

I spoke more on balanced in an interview I did with one of Kelly’s interns on WAHM Talk Radio blog. You can read that as well for more insight and tips on balance and time management.

Whew, was the enough for you Erin

Now let me ask you…

In your transition from SAHM to WAHM, what has been your biggest struggle? What can you apply to your life to help you combat this struggle?

I am looking forward to seeing what you have to say.

For those reading this CBC with Erin, be sure to check out her answers and more great posts at Mom’s Resource Blog.