Life is all about balance. Right?
That’s what they say anyway. I’m sure it will be a forever challenge to figure out how to balance everything in your life juuuust right. Right now is one of those times where I’m struggling to find the balance…
Where do I put my time, my energy, my love…?
How do I continue to put all my energy into my business, but still try to maintain healthy relationships with my friends and family?
How in the heck do I even try to justify “me time” when there is so much to be done?
When does saying “no” ever become an easy thing?
At the end of the day I know God comes first, always…but what does that even look like in my life?
This is not a “woe-is-me” kind of post but simply just me putting my thoughts out there. There is something about writing/typing things out that somehow brings answers to my never-ending questions. Wedding season is in full swing and things are crazy-busy. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have it any other way…I absolutely love everything that is going on with my business…but I’m struggling with finding a balance between business-life and personal-life. I mean, let’s be honest here…my business life is pretty much my personal life and sometimes I love that, sometimes I don’t. Photography on it’s own will always be a part of my personal life…there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t do something that is photography related. That will never change. But running a business is a completely different story.
Photographers, lawyers, moms, musicians, baristas, pilots…whoever you are and whatever you do…
HOW DO YOU FIND THE BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE?
I want to hear it.
xoxo.
And because every post needs a pretty photo…
good question! i’ve just started making choices. i choose family time. i choose to say no. it hasn’t gotten easier, but i usually don’t end up regretting it. and for your “at the end of the day” question, God is so faithful, even when we are not. i try not to take advantage of that, but it is a nice fact to rest on.
I feel like we always try to balance a one sided heavy load. I try to keep things as is and maybe just move things around to stay balenced, when it’s actually impossible because I’ll always be side sided. I guess all we can do is ask ourselves, since adding more stuff to the unbalanced side making our load heavier isn’t an option, is what can I remove and what needs to go to allow me to be balanced and happy? And also I ask what is the most important thing is that requires my time, the second most, the third, etc and build from there. What i end up finding is that family and friends don’t really require a lot of my physical time but rather my love and support. God doesn’t really require a lot of my physical time either but rather my love and to keep my mind on him. After seeing it this way, when friends or family or God ask me for a little of my time, I’m more likely to put off something else and give it to them because they’re the only ones who sacrifice not having my attention and time, all the time, for my sake… If that makes any sense haha
Thanks for being so honest with this post Tonyha. This is so tough and I feel ya! I think finding a perfect balance will be a lifelong struggle; all we can do is seek to tell GOD’s story in our lives, and aim to worship and praise Him in all we do. At the end of the day work is still work, but by His grace he blesses us through it. Work doesn’t in and of itself equal fulfillment. Just keep your eyes on Jesus and keep pressing in!
Ok first of all I Looooooove that image!!!! Can’t wait to see the rest 😉 secondly, I definitely know how u feel. Sometimes it’s like ur being pulled in so many different directions it feels impossible to do anything to the best of your ability! When I feel overwhelmed or stressed I try to focus on the things I am most grateful for. I have found that the small act of just being grateful has often times made me more clearly see what’s most important 🙂
I think every photographer (or business owner) asks themselves this question at some point. It’s hard. Our new years resolution was exactly this, to make time for ourselves, friends, and family. This is our busiest year yet and with the huge things we have in store it’s only going to get crazier but all in all it’s not been that bad. A few things we did that definitely helped was scheduling a day off and sticking to it no matter what. Yep that’s right… a day with no emails, sessions, or work related stuff (unless it super urgent) We chose Mondays just because it’s the day after the crazy weekends and seems like a good rest day. At first it was tough pulling away from work but it actually made us miss it and in turn made us more excited to get back to it and it made us better at what we do. We also make sure to schedule a few things a month with friends. They help keep you accountable. A movie, dinner, or even having other photographer friends to hang out with can help a ton. They know exactly how you feel and sometimes it’s just good to vent. Another great tip, although this also can be tricky, is to not take every session/wedding that comes your way. Sometimes considering the $ involved can be hard but if there is a session that comes our way that a) is not something we are interested in or b) feel that will benefit us in terms of how much time is involved or whatever, we don’t take it. We want to always be inspired and most of all happy about the things we are photographing. Another thing that has helped us is just making a list of things we want to do (per season) like say, watch a certain movie, or go to the beach, or swimming or a particular museum etc. Sounds silly but it really helps with making sure we have fun times for ourselves. That may be one of my favorite things we have implemented. Before, it seemed like everyone was out having fantastic summers etc and we were always working working working (which we obviously love and got to go to great places, but still working) So this has helped with giving US the chance to make fun memories of our own instead of just always photographing everyone else’s. We have also started giving ourselves stricter guidelines for work, and in turn it helps give us more free time. I know we have other things that have helped us tremendously this year but this is all that came to mind at the moment. Hope it’s helpful! 🙂 Also apologies for the long response.
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