Now that we still have some sunlight hanging aroun Now that we still have some sunlight hanging around after the kids go to bed, my new thing is sipping a glass of wine on the back patio while making small talk with Josh and praying the kids stay in bed.
 
I've been obsessed with cleaning our house recently but I've been so good about it, I have nothing left to clean or tidy right now and I'm left to face the things I don't really want to think about like the fact that I miss my kids when they're at school or how I really want to fill this house up with some more of them 😅 

At any rate, one of my simple pleasures in life is decluttering and purging unused things and I feel like I've accomplished a lot!! What about you?
Being a mom has always meant so much to me. Growin Being a mom has always meant so much to me. Growing up, I thought it was pretty much all I was cut out to do, which ended up being false. But even though I've learned that I'm capable of so many other things, being a mom is still one of my highest aspirations. As we're getting our home ready for fostering, I can't help but think of how the little one(s) entering our home will feel but also how David and Evy will feel. How will they react if we parent slightly differently? Will they understand that we're working to build trust and connection or will they feel indignant? These are the things I pray about and also speak to the kids about in the days leading up. We're all excited but I have the feeling of heaviness that we don't and won't understand the burden until we're all already carrying it together.
Doing my gosh darned best to manifest spring over Doing my gosh darned best to manifest spring over here and I think it might be working 😉 Today the kids had TWOsday at school and they were so sweet. David wore a tie (I don't exactly get how it tirles in to Twosday but the kids were happy so..) and Evy "twinned" with a couple of sweet friends in her class. It's so sweet when you see your own kids building their own friendships. It just loosens a little piece of anxiety I've had about parenthood since David was still in my tummy. How did you spend your TWOsday??

Sandals @naotfootwear 💕
Today was a sweet day. Woke up at 8:30 next to Jos Today was a sweet day. Woke up at 8:30 next to Josh in a quiet house - the kids slept over my parent's last night. Got up, raced to clean the kitchen as fast as I could while my coffee was brewing. The coffee won this time. 

I recorded a Reel while getting ready. Went to the place where we were going to meet my fam a bit early so Josh and I could get in a walk. Then we got coffee, went to a huge antique store (sadly left with nothing but took pictures of my faves so I can remember to come back) and went to lunch with the kids and my parents. Love easy-going and fun days like these 🖤
Back in the day,I was talking with someone about m Back in the day,I was talking with someone about marriage.Josh and I had been married for a few years at that point but this guy was still single. ..

He told me he was studying to get his masters in counseling and he wanted to be a marriage counselor one day.I thought "Hey that's pretty cool" but, curious,because,you know, he was single. 

Anyway, after we'd been talking a few minutes about our interest in helping married couples, he leaned in and said, "You know, I have this theory on marriage.." "Oh yeah?" I said (pretty curious to hear what theories this guy had for all of marriage for everyone everywhere). 

He said, "I believe that every single problem in marriage boils down to communication."

At the time, I didn't really know what to say. I'm more of a *reflector* and then I come up with what I wish I had said later.

Here's what I wish I had said: "Um. Yeah I don't think so. I mean sure, communication helps with a lot of issues. But what about selfishness,⠀addiction,⠀past hurt and trauma, etc? Communication will help people work through those issues but they're connected to much deeper issues that concern the heart--not just your communication skills."

We are all broken, very human, beings and when left to our own devices,⠀we don't have all the tools necessary to "fix" ourselves or our spouse's problems. We can talk until we're blue in the face but we just can't fix ourselves. 

What we do need, is to lean on the Creator who made all things good and makes all things new. To understand that we are not the main characters here. The whole world and everything in it points to Christ and His redeeming power. And yes, he often works that out through us and often through communication. But it's not communication that saves marriages. It's Jesus.

I was just thinking about that today and wanted to get it off my chest. What role do you think communication plays?
Merry Christmas from the Damons! 🎁 Merry Christmas from the Damons! 🎁
So much joy in one photo! Ok, maybe 4 photos 😜 So much joy in one photo! Ok, maybe 4 photos 😜 Love my littlest niece, Eva ❤️
Let's hash something out together: what's somethin Let's hash something out together: what's something you do or used to fight about in your marriage/relationship regularly?

Do you feel like the issue is/was pretty cut and dry? 

Or was there an underlying issue that bubbled up in different ways?

Curious to know your thoughts. 

When Josh and I were first married, we fought a lot. We were pretty low-income, didn't have great jobs, and had a wee baby. While our fights were often about the grocery list, the real issue was that we were SCARED. 

Scared of the adult life we had just stepped into. It was kind of like jumping into a puddle you don't think is that deep until after it's too late and now your socks are completely drowning 🚣🏼‍♀️ 

Luckily, though, they dry off over time, don't they?

After lots of learning and working really hard (both at our jobs and relationship) things started to ease up. We started to see that there was a light at the end of the tunnel and even though we weren't there yet, it gave up hope to carry on together ❤️
Go on a walk with your spouse before Netflixing. O Go on a walk with your spouse before Netflixing. Or if you can't leave the house, sit in the kitchen with a glass of wine. Make time to talk. And make it easier by doing things together. It's so so important ❤️
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Blogging, Motherhood, Work · May 11, 2017

7 ways I stay motivated and focused as a work at home mom (blogger)

Do you work from home or hope to someday work from home but aren’t sure how to actually make it work? I know many people who feel like they need the structure of an office setting in order to be the most productive they can be. And while working in an office can be great, many men and women who work from home don’t have that option. So what’s a work from home mom or dad supposed to do when scrolling through Facebook sounds a lot more appealing (and easier) than being the “self-starter” in a work-from-home job? Here are some of the things I do that help me automate my systems, stay on task and motivated, and focused when it really matters:

Do you work from home or hope to someday work from home but aren’t sure how to actually make it work? I know many people who feel like they need the structure of an office setting in order to be the most productive they can be. And while working in an office can be great, many men and women who work from home don’t have that option. So what’s a work from home mom or dad supposed to do when scrolling through Facebook sounds a lot more appealing (and easier) than being the “self-starter” in a work-from-home job?

Here are some of the things I do that help me automate my systems, stay on task and motivated, and focused when it really matters:

Read my original post on New Kid on The Blog:

1 | Set short and long term goals

This goes along with prioritizing (more on prioritizing in a minute) but it’s a little more organized than that. Before you even begin to schedule your time, automate, and focus, you’re going to need to clearly define what your goals are. For my blogs, I have goals of things that I would like to get done this year, and then things I would like to get done this month, and things that I would like to get done tomorrow. Of course, working from home often has its flexibility, but if I’m going to meet my long term, bigger goals, I need to do my best to stay on track with my littler goals- you know, like building blocks.

I use Trello to help map out my goals. I used it when I was working as an employee and I use it still now that I work for myself (I also use it for others things such as packing lists, keeping track of monthly bills, etc.)

Basically, I create lists titled things like “This Year,” or “This Week,” or “Eventually.” I try to keep that board as small as possibly because something about the word “eventually” stresses me out and feels unorganized. You get the idea, though.

2 | Schedule your time

With your short term goals, figure out when you want those goals competed by, what steps needs to happen in order to compete them, and how long each step will take. I like to use Asana for their calendar, delegation, and “subtasks” features. Basically, I can create a task, assign a due date to it, assign people on my team to the task (that is, if I had people. Which I plan on having hopefully later this year. That would be a dream come true) and outline all the subtasks that need to be done in order to see that the task is completed.

Here’s an example that I might use as a blogger:

I need to write an important blog post by the end of the month. Put that blog post due date on the calendar. Now I create subtasks such as 1). Outline post 2). Research 3). Write 4). Create social media images 5). Create post draft in WordPress and add all necessary links 6). Publish and share or schedule for social media.

Now, with any one of those subtasks, I could assign them to someone who is a part of my team to get it done for me. I can assign it its own due date and they let me know if/when it’s completed. I can really see how this would be useful as a home management system as well. Except I don’t believe hubby would appreciate getting an email reminding him to take the trash out. But it might be worth a try.

This model works WONDERS for both small and large goals. And since I can switch my tasks to a calendar view, it helps my visual brain see and prepare for when things are due! Asana is the best. If they had an affiliate program I’d be all up in that; but since they don’t (because they’re 100% free) I’m sharing them purely out of the love I have for them in my heart.

3 | Channel inspiration and motivation

Find out when/what inspires and motivates you and take advantage of that.

For me, I know that I write better when I’ve just had an espresso and I can listen to some of that weird “focus” music on YouTube.  Yes, we do have a Spotify account which would make finding that type of music much easier, but my husband is never not on Spotify. So I fulfill my listening needs through YouTube. It works for now.

Anyway.

I know that coffee and good music helps get me focus, inspired, and ready to buckle down for work. What is it that helps get you in the zone?

4 | Utilize automation

Lots of jobs have mundane tasks or busywork that can take up our valuable time and leave us feeling tired and unmotivated to move on the the harder things or things requiring more creativity or brain power. This is where automation comes in. As a blogger, I use Viraltag to schedule about 80% of my social media posts ahead of time. Scheduling ahead makes my life and job so much more productive because I’m not spending hours doing tedious work when I could be applying myself to more important things!

Another system I use for automation is MailerLite. When a new person signs up for my email list, I send out a series of automated emails because I want to make sure that every email subscriber starts out in the same place and gets the same useful information as everyone else. This is a system that I only had to put in place once, and then MailerLite takes care of the rest! *proudly claps invisible dust off hands*

5 | Cut out distractions while you work

Literally, close out of all internet tabs that are not important to what you’re doing now. Put in some headphones and pump up that focus music.

I know myself. And I know for a fact that if I have Facebook open or my phone not on silent, I will inevitably fall into a black hole of distractedness and not be able to climb out until a frustrating amount of time has passed. Since I work from home, I have no boss that I have to quickly change tabs for when they walk into my “office.” My time is controlled by me (ok, and the tiny humans (and sometimes a big human) that live in my house). But when they’re sleeping or busy with their own thing, I decide how I spend my working hours and as much as I may want to just zone out for a bit, I need to think ahead and make that not even a temptation when I know that there are more important things to do.

6 | Prioritize

This is something that I need to do MOST when I am feeling the overwhelm of having too many tasks and not enough time in the day. Know the feeling? Besides making a list of things I need to accomplish, I need to order that list with the things that are most pressing first. I’m the type of person who will procrastinate by cleaning the house or doing easy or small tasks because the thought of starting a big task it a bit overwhelming at the moment. And sometimes that’s actually a good thing to do. I know that I’m actually a lot more focused when my house is clean. So sometimes I know that in order to do my best at a certain task, I need to first clean the house or ask for help from the hubby in order to be able to put my best foot forward. But as soon as that’s out of the way, as much as I might not want to, I need to get the most pressing task done first.

7 | Know your “why”

Sometimes motivation and inspiration isn’t going to be enough to keep you going on the tough days or the days where you only got 4 hours of sleep the night before. That’s where your “why” comes in. What’s my why? I blog to support my family and help women live more joyful and fulfilling lives. So on the days when I’d rather zone out and just scroll through pretty pictures on Instagram, I know that neither of those things will happen unless I push through my lack of motivation to get it done anyway! Since this is something I’m passionate about, my motivation always returns to me- usually after a nap, a moment of silence during nap time, or a much-needed cup of coffee.

So work-from-home mom or dad, what are your tips for staying focused and on-task at your home office? Share your own tips in the comments below and share with a WAHM or WAHD pal.

This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase a service or product through my link, I get a small comission for the recommendation, at no extra cost to you. Of course, all opinions are my own- I only recommend products that I use and love myelf.

In: Blogging, Motherhood, Work · Tagged: asana, automation, blogger, dad, distractions, family, focus, home, inspiration, kids, mailerlite, mom, mother, motivated, music, office, organize, plan, prioritize, schedule, stay, trello, viraltag, wahm, why, Work, work at home

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Comments

  1. Ashley | FBL says

    May 11, 2017 at 9:29 am

    Automation is definitely my very best friend when it comes to managing my career + my blog. I primarily rely on ViralTag and Tailwind which save me SO much time.

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Hi! I'm Chelsea and we're the Damon's. We spent the last two years in WA state paying off student loans and just bought our first house in SC! I love a smooth black coffee, Josh's first love is the Seattle Sounders. Our kids are huge dorks and constantly make us laugh and we all love spending as much time outside as possible.

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Now that we still have some sunlight hanging aroun Now that we still have some sunlight hanging around after the kids go to bed, my new thing is sipping a glass of wine on the back patio while making small talk with Josh and praying the kids stay in bed.
 
I've been obsessed with cleaning our house recently but I've been so good about it, I have nothing left to clean or tidy right now and I'm left to face the things I don't really want to think about like the fact that I miss my kids when they're at school or how I really want to fill this house up with some more of them 😅 

At any rate, one of my simple pleasures in life is decluttering and purging unused things and I feel like I've accomplished a lot!! What about you?
Being a mom has always meant so much to me. Growin Being a mom has always meant so much to me. Growing up, I thought it was pretty much all I was cut out to do, which ended up being false. But even though I've learned that I'm capable of so many other things, being a mom is still one of my highest aspirations. As we're getting our home ready for fostering, I can't help but think of how the little one(s) entering our home will feel but also how David and Evy will feel. How will they react if we parent slightly differently? Will they understand that we're working to build trust and connection or will they feel indignant? These are the things I pray about and also speak to the kids about in the days leading up. We're all excited but I have the feeling of heaviness that we don't and won't understand the burden until we're all already carrying it together.
Doing my gosh darned best to manifest spring over Doing my gosh darned best to manifest spring over here and I think it might be working 😉 Today the kids had TWOsday at school and they were so sweet. David wore a tie (I don't exactly get how it tirles in to Twosday but the kids were happy so..) and Evy "twinned" with a couple of sweet friends in her class. It's so sweet when you see your own kids building their own friendships. It just loosens a little piece of anxiety I've had about parenthood since David was still in my tummy. How did you spend your TWOsday??

Sandals @naotfootwear 💕
Today was a sweet day. Woke up at 8:30 next to Jos Today was a sweet day. Woke up at 8:30 next to Josh in a quiet house - the kids slept over my parent's last night. Got up, raced to clean the kitchen as fast as I could while my coffee was brewing. The coffee won this time. 

I recorded a Reel while getting ready. Went to the place where we were going to meet my fam a bit early so Josh and I could get in a walk. Then we got coffee, went to a huge antique store (sadly left with nothing but took pictures of my faves so I can remember to come back) and went to lunch with the kids and my parents. Love easy-going and fun days like these 🖤

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Now that we still have some sunlight hanging aroun Now that we still have some sunlight hanging around after the kids go to bed, my new thing is sipping a glass of wine on the back patio while making small talk with Josh and praying the kids stay in bed.
 
I've been obsessed with cleaning our house recently but I've been so good about it, I have nothing left to clean or tidy right now and I'm left to face the things I don't really want to think about like the fact that I miss my kids when they're at school or how I really want to fill this house up with some more of them 😅 

At any rate, one of my simple pleasures in life is decluttering and purging unused things and I feel like I've accomplished a lot!! What about you?
Being a mom has always meant so much to me. Growin Being a mom has always meant so much to me. Growing up, I thought it was pretty much all I was cut out to do, which ended up being false. But even though I've learned that I'm capable of so many other things, being a mom is still one of my highest aspirations. As we're getting our home ready for fostering, I can't help but think of how the little one(s) entering our home will feel but also how David and Evy will feel. How will they react if we parent slightly differently? Will they understand that we're working to build trust and connection or will they feel indignant? These are the things I pray about and also speak to the kids about in the days leading up. We're all excited but I have the feeling of heaviness that we don't and won't understand the burden until we're all already carrying it together.
Doing my gosh darned best to manifest spring over Doing my gosh darned best to manifest spring over here and I think it might be working 😉 Today the kids had TWOsday at school and they were so sweet. David wore a tie (I don't exactly get how it tirles in to Twosday but the kids were happy so..) and Evy "twinned" with a couple of sweet friends in her class. It's so sweet when you see your own kids building their own friendships. It just loosens a little piece of anxiety I've had about parenthood since David was still in my tummy. How did you spend your TWOsday??

Sandals @naotfootwear 💕
Today was a sweet day. Woke up at 8:30 next to Jos Today was a sweet day. Woke up at 8:30 next to Josh in a quiet house - the kids slept over my parent's last night. Got up, raced to clean the kitchen as fast as I could while my coffee was brewing. The coffee won this time. 

I recorded a Reel while getting ready. Went to the place where we were going to meet my fam a bit early so Josh and I could get in a walk. Then we got coffee, went to a huge antique store (sadly left with nothing but took pictures of my faves so I can remember to come back) and went to lunch with the kids and my parents. Love easy-going and fun days like these 🖤
Back in the day,I was talking with someone about m Back in the day,I was talking with someone about marriage.Josh and I had been married for a few years at that point but this guy was still single. ..

He told me he was studying to get his masters in counseling and he wanted to be a marriage counselor one day.I thought "Hey that's pretty cool" but, curious,because,you know, he was single. 

Anyway, after we'd been talking a few minutes about our interest in helping married couples, he leaned in and said, "You know, I have this theory on marriage.." "Oh yeah?" I said (pretty curious to hear what theories this guy had for all of marriage for everyone everywhere). 

He said, "I believe that every single problem in marriage boils down to communication."

At the time, I didn't really know what to say. I'm more of a *reflector* and then I come up with what I wish I had said later.

Here's what I wish I had said: "Um. Yeah I don't think so. I mean sure, communication helps with a lot of issues. But what about selfishness,⠀addiction,⠀past hurt and trauma, etc? Communication will help people work through those issues but they're connected to much deeper issues that concern the heart--not just your communication skills."

We are all broken, very human, beings and when left to our own devices,⠀we don't have all the tools necessary to "fix" ourselves or our spouse's problems. We can talk until we're blue in the face but we just can't fix ourselves. 

What we do need, is to lean on the Creator who made all things good and makes all things new. To understand that we are not the main characters here. The whole world and everything in it points to Christ and His redeeming power. And yes, he often works that out through us and often through communication. But it's not communication that saves marriages. It's Jesus.

I was just thinking about that today and wanted to get it off my chest. What role do you think communication plays?
Merry Christmas from the Damons! 🎁 Merry Christmas from the Damons! 🎁
So much joy in one photo! Ok, maybe 4 photos 😜 So much joy in one photo! Ok, maybe 4 photos 😜 Love my littlest niece, Eva ❤️
Let's hash something out together: what's somethin Let's hash something out together: what's something you do or used to fight about in your marriage/relationship regularly?

Do you feel like the issue is/was pretty cut and dry? 

Or was there an underlying issue that bubbled up in different ways?

Curious to know your thoughts. 

When Josh and I were first married, we fought a lot. We were pretty low-income, didn't have great jobs, and had a wee baby. While our fights were often about the grocery list, the real issue was that we were SCARED. 

Scared of the adult life we had just stepped into. It was kind of like jumping into a puddle you don't think is that deep until after it's too late and now your socks are completely drowning 🚣🏼‍♀️ 

Luckily, though, they dry off over time, don't they?

After lots of learning and working really hard (both at our jobs and relationship) things started to ease up. We started to see that there was a light at the end of the tunnel and even though we weren't there yet, it gave up hope to carry on together ❤️
Go on a walk with your spouse before Netflixing. O Go on a walk with your spouse before Netflixing. Or if you can't leave the house, sit in the kitchen with a glass of wine. Make time to talk. And make it easier by doing things together. It's so so important ❤️
Top knots over crop tops 😜 Top knots over crop tops 😜

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