((a day in the life))

A few weeks ago - Casey, Hayley, and I were discussing how one of the emails/questions we all get asked the most is the very thing we'd like to share with other women like us: Women just beginning to blog or in the thick of it. Women still dreaming of an amazing small business idea or lost in the execution of it. 

The question is: how do we, as essentially stay-at-home moms of multiple children, manage our homes + family and balance all our other endeavors. I think first of all we'd all say, with lots of trial and error and grace and failure and grace and trying again. None of us are doing it perfectly or easily, but as we build The Influence Network (and our other separate brands) - these are exactly the kinds of tools we want to equip other women with. 

So! We thought we'd do a little segment this week. Today we'll share a play-by-play of a normal day in our lives and Friday, we'll come back to share some tips + tricks and take aways from each of our own perspective. Make sure you check each of their days out too - since we're each really different ladies, with different lives, and different schedules. 

Without any more jabbering - a normal Tuesday for the Connollys: 

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snack + exercise, bible time + breakfast, scheduling the tweets

7:30am we wake up, all of us. Listen. I wish it was earlier. It used to be. Maybe when this pregnancy is over and life is a little more structured, I'll go back to being a wake-before-my-kiddos-for-quiet-time mama, but the truth is, the past month or two - I don't consistently wake up till they do. 
8:00am I quickly put on some sweats + brush my teeth, and head out to walk with a friend. Combining things is key for me. If I can combine community + exercise, hooray! 
8:45am I'm back, Nick has started kids breakfast, gotten dressed & is having his quiet time. I eat a quick breakfast with kids, spend some time in the Word, and give them about 30 minutes to play while I answer emergency emails, plan my day, schedule my tweets for the day, and make a quick to-do list. 

homeschooling, a working lunch in the office 

9:30am -12:30pm We're homeschooling. Elias does his work and I help him. Glory + Benj are playing, doing worksheets, coloring, etc. During this time - I also do my hair and makeup at the kitchen table. Again, combining is key. I may answer a few business emails or texts, but mostly try to stay kid-focused during this time. 
12:30pm Make a quick lunch for kiddos + do a quick clean up. Think ahead to dinner and feel super relieved when I remember it's taco night, which means no prep-work. 
1pm It's my workday and the sitter comes. I love our babysitter/friend, Kayla so much and the kids do too. She is a blessing beyond blessing. Take my salad to the office, spend a few minutes praying over my workday because I'm usually pretty anxious about how much I have to get done. Start some music, make a list and go at it. I work pretty straight for 4 hours. No answering my phone or texting unless I have a business call. Nick handles all of the shop business so I focus on emails, the network, planning our next SheReadsTruth plan, and finishing up a few other things. Sometime during this time, Nick finishes with church meetings, goes on a Naptime Diaries post office run & comes back to work in the office for a little. 

quick pre-dinner business meeting, fish tacos!, bible time on the iPad

5pm Take another minute to pray and choose to not stress about how much is still on my list to-do. Few deep breaths + go relieve Kayla. Quick cuddle with kids and about 30 minutes of clean up/chores around the house together. 
5:30pm Start prepping dinner and enjoy the distraction when Hayley's husband stops by and we all talk business for a couple of minutes. We don't live nearby, but he's in town for work and it's good to catch up for a minute. 
6pm Say bye to Mike, finish prepping my part of dinner and take kids upstairs for baths while Nick makes the fish for our tacos. He's way better at fish and our kids are super dirty. 
6:30pm Dinner together. Phones/emails/texts forgotten. Just Connolly time.
7:15pm Bible time together on the couch. Lately we're loving the God's Love Bible App for the ipad. Talk a little about advent, pray for the kiddos, and put them to bed together. 

8pm Worknight starts! We work Tuesdays, Thursdays, either Friday or Saturdays (we always take one night off), and I write after church on Sundays. Monday nights are always free and Wednesday nights we have discipleship + community group. We make a fresh pot of coffee, I get a big cup of ice and we go to town. Nick packages orders, I work on other stuff. 
11:30/12 Worknight over. We take quick showers and hop in bed, spending a few minutes to connect and talk about the next day and what's ahead. Nick reads on his ipad for a few minutes and as of late, I watch a show or two on hulu or read a book - because pregsomnia is taking over my life and I'm having a hard time shutting my brain off. 
1:30am doze off and feel grateful for rest. 

Other days looks different. Errands, church stuff, more homeschool sometimes, big cleaning on Saturdays. But those are the nuts + bolts that make it all up. 

Family, work, ministry, pregsomnia, lots of ice, laughing, emails. 
We could probably use a little more rest + a little more cleaning - but all in all, super grateful for what we're working with. 

What are your days like? Don't forget to check out Casey + Hayley's days and come back on Friday for some more life-scheduling-balance talk. 

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