How to Manage A Business, School, and Family

I am by no means superwoman and I never will be. So lets just get that out of the way right here and now. However false of a name, I do get called “superwoman” and told “Girl, you do it all!” Sorry if I hurt feelings, but I just can’t do it all. However, since I started blogging almost five years ago and Hannah Braboy Photography has come to be, I have had to learn to swing family and friends, school, and work.

• I don’t write out huge to-do lists. They generally just overwhelm me. Instead, I just have a huge master to-do list stored in my brain. The top 3-5 most important things get written down to do. Once those are done, I allow myself to write down 3-5 more, and so on.
• I’m lucky enough to be homeschooled. This doesn’t mean I get out of school, but rather I have a more flexible schedule and I’m also able to focus more and get things done a ton quicker. I also take school books on errands, any car ride longer than five minutes, and sometimes when I go for walks or runs.
• I put myself first. That sounds so selfish I almost erased it. It’s the total opposite of what we’ve always been taught – “others first, yourself second”. What I mean by putting myself first is scheduling a day off during the week, setting limits on my hours and spending time doing other things I love. (Because after all, inspiration is a key part of what I do every day.) This also means forcing myself to just eat breakfast and not multitask with my iPhone. It helps me to put others first when I put myself first. (Clear as mud, right?)
• I put school and my responsibilities around the house first. I kinda stink at this sometimes. I’ll be honest. You know, though? Things go a lot smoother when I put those two things first. Sometimes that means quitting work early to get down in the floor to play with my little brothers, make pizza crust, or blocking out a weekend when I can’t book a session because I’ve got chickens to put in the freezer. (Sorry for that last part. It’s my reality right now, though.)
• I know my limits and stick to my guns. I have to force myself to work on this daily. I can easily over-commit myself and we all know what I do when that happens. Or at least my mom does. It isn’t pretty. It did take a while to figure out my limits, though. As long as I know them and stick to them, breakdowns are avoided.
• I have a family who supports me. I’m serious when I say this. I could not do what I do with out my family. I cannot list to you all the ways they continue to impact me and my business, but I am forever grateful.

Those are some of the methods and things that work for me and help me not to drop every ball I’m juggling. I do still drop the ball occasionally, though. I still get upset, over-think things, miss deadlines, make [home] school drag on longer than it should, and am too hard on myself. It’s quite the balance beam and I’m not sure I’ll ever master it, but I’m glad of that.

What helps you manage everything?