As some of you may know, I‘ve been running Just Dandy Events part time for the past 5 years. Like so many other small business owners, I also work a full time job. From 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday, I sit in front of a computer in a corporate office, wishing I was 100% my own boss. I’m working as hard as I can right now to get to the point of being able to make my own schedule, answer only to myself and my couples, and put my family first as much as possible. I’ll get there eventually. But for now, my reality is a delicate balance between my day job and my dream job….and everything in between. A few weeks ago, this balance was seriously tested.
I was told I had to travel to Maryland for about 36 hours to attend a summit for my day job. To say I was unhappy about this would be an understatement. First of all, I cherish my evenings with my little family. Especially this time of year, when we’re coming out of summer where Wes & I very rarely get any time together. Up to this point, I hadn’t even spent a night away from #ourboywyatt yet since we brought him home in February {yes I’m that dog mom}. And honestly, I'm just very much a homebody. So being away for "so long" was not a happy thought for me.
Second, my evenings are often used to work on JDE things {whatever I can’t get done during my lunch breaks}. I tend to blog in the evenings while Wes and I watch football. I answer emails while I cook dinner and work on projects right before bed while Wes showers. Again, balance. To add a little more urgency to my workload, I had a really big and important styled shoot for the Aisle Society quickly approaching {I can't wait to share more about this!} and I felt like I needed to spend every bit of my down time working on that.
Sadly, my bosses did not agree. And so I flew to Baltimore around 5am on a Tuesday. I spent my time before dawn sitting at the gate working on wedding day timelines on my tablet. When I landed and took the hour long ride to the office, I was on my phone answering emails from my brides. I sat through 8 hours of meetings and then spent 45 minutes working from my hotel bed...on conference calls, working out details for the AS styled shoot, and handling a hundred other things that needed to be done….all before going out for a company outing to a Baltimore Orioles game.
When
I got home the next evening, surprisingly, I didn’t feel that behind.
I didn’t feel like I’d been “out of office” for close to two straight
days. I felt like I still had a pretty good handle on everything that I
had coming up.
When I was packing for my time away, I made sure to bring any and everything that I thought I might need to get some serious JDE work done while I was “out of office”. I packed my planner {let’s be real, I am never without my planner}, my notebook, my tablet, and notes from all the projects I had going on. I was 100% prepared to run my business, regardless of not being at a desk and in front of my computer. I made it happen.
Those 36 hours were not my favorite...by any stretch. But you know, I was almost as productive then as I was when I was home in Virginia. And for that, I was so proud of myself.
My point in recapping all of this, is that it’s possible.
No matter how much you have on your plate. No matter what big
projects and impending deadlines you have approaching. No matter how
much extra “stuff” you have being thrown your way. It’s possible. You
can get everything accomplished that you want to and need to and dream
of, as long as you put in the work. You have to prioritize and plan and
prepare. But it’s possible.
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I'm so glad you shared this! You're doing an awesome job balancing everything!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Caitlin!!! You're so sweet! :)
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