Updated Workspace Continued

 A couple of weeks ago I went to a lot of trouble to update my work-space and within a few days I received this big beautiful desk. It's taken me some time to finally get to cleaning up my new area, but I finally did. My space was in dire need of organization. It never ceases to amaze me how decluttering a physical space helps declutter your mind space.

So, here you go. My before and after pictures. I've got so much space to work with now! Maybe I'll actually get to do some real work this weekend.

Before

After

March 21: Refresh (Chapter Eleven)

This post is part of the Balanced challenge with Tricia Goyer—and you can join, too!

Don’t think balance will happen overnight—or even over an eleven-day challenge. It takes practice, and practice takes time. Spend a few minutes reviewing what you’ve learned throughout this challenge and what you hope to continue implementing in your life. Then blog about how you can keep persevering and working toward balance after the challenge has ended. Share encouragement for those who might feel they’ve failed at balance.

As I'm sure you've discovered the dream of a completely balance life does not exist. Life is a series of constant changes. Some days you'll feel like you've achieved balance only to have disaster strike the next day. You're not alone. Dare I say, you're even normal.

Over the past eleven days I've had my ups and downs. I had days that I could write and write and other days I wondered why I signed up for this challenge. In the end, I am glad that I've taken the time to do each challenge. I've learned a lot and I hope I maintain most of that knowledge. I thought I'd finish up with a brief overview of my Balanced Challenge.

Day 1
Make your family a priority. Take a look at what is most important to you as a family. What do you want to accomplish as a family? Where do you see yourself in five or ten years? For my family, I hope that we be close as the kids grow older.

Day 2
Find ways to make working at home work for you. Create your own space to work in. Make it comfortable, inspiring and functional.

Day 3
How can you get your kids involved in what you do? Get inspiration from your children or ask them for ideas. Explain what it is you're doing.

Day 4
Believe God. God made you uniquely you. He gave you gifts that no one else has. Believe that God gave you these gifts for a reason and use them for His glory.

Day 5
Create a schedule by ranking your priorities. What is truly important? What has to be done? What are you doing just because you think other's expect you to?

Day 6
Do what you can. Use those small windows of time to be productive. Sweep the floor, fold a load of laundry, fill the sink with soapy water for the dishes to soak.

Day 7
Seek Support. It's okay to ask for help. It's even okay to hire help where needed. The upkeep for a family is a lot of work and doesn't need to fall on the shoulders of one person.

Day 8
Make your day amazing! Give thanks to God for your blessings. Sing His praises. Take the time to appreciate each member of your family for being unique. I had a mini dance party with my 6.5 year old daughter.

Day 9
Find inspiration and rest. There is F.R.E.E.D.O.M. in following your dreams. I am finding peace and joy in researching my dream!

Day 10
Eight. What are your eight life themes? What matters most to you? Music. Family. People. God. Friendship. Play. Laugh. Appreciate.

Day 11
Know that there will be ups and downs. True balance comes within. Let go of the things that really don't matter in the long run. Remember to go to God first instead of as a last resort. Spend quality time with the people you love and delegate whatever you can. Live in peace even through the chaos of our every changing lives.




March 12: How Your Work Benefits from You Being at Home (Chapter Two)

Chapter 2 - How Your Work Benefits from You Being at Home
What can you do or change to make working from home actually work for you? Creating an office space? Cleaning up that office space? Looking into finding a babysitter for a few hours a day? Take the first steps in making the change, then take a photo of your progress and post it on your blog.

I truly tried to do this tonight. While I did end up with a decent workspace it did not come easily!

My workspace is in my living room. The computer is set up with the tv. The idea is to send the kids upstairs for a certain amount of time while I have quality work time. Before I could get to work though I needed to organize my clutter.

 
The box if full of papers, books, taxes and a skirt that needs to be sewn. Beside the box are two baskets of yarn and crochet accessories. Okay there's a lot here, but if I just prioritize then I think I can get it done. What the priority here? Oh yes, my skirt so I can wear it to work tomorrow.

And then I realized I needed to wash my comforter so we can use it tonight. Off I go down the stairs to start a load of wash. Only, there's a load in the dryer and the washer already. I finish switching over the laundry and get my dirty sheets and comforter into the washer, make the bed with clean sheets so now all it needs it the comforter. Then I remember how disgusting my bathroom is. So, I cleaned it and pushed all the dirty laundry into the laundry room, gathered up all the garbage in the basement, and brought up some dirty dishes.

Now I'm upstairs. Back to sewing my skirt. Wait my sewing box is broken. I need something else to put this stuff in. Somehow, my vitamins and medications got organized and I eventually found something to put my meager sewing stuff into.

Crap. It's later than I realized and my daughter needs to go to bed.

So, I did managed to sew my skirt while watching a couple of sitcoms. Finally, I managed to go through my big box of stuff and organize it into tidy little pile. Here are some pictures while going through the worst of it.

 

 

 The final product and I have a feeling tomorrow will go a lot more smoothly as a result!



In the round table is what's left of my pile. I still have lots of crochet stuff, but it's easy to hide. I need it accessible so I can complete a blanket I'm working on.

Overall, I got so much done tonight, even if it wasn't all on my radar. I felt a little it like I fell down the rabbit hole and couldn't find the right way out. So, I think it will be a lot less stressful when I sit down to work from here on out.

Today's challenge...accepted and completed!

This post is part of the Balanced challenge with Tricia Goyer—and you can join, too!