It’s funny how things work out sometimes.
When I first started this blog seven years ago, I was creating, photographing, writing, and coding in the ‘fringe hours’ of my days.
All day long I was grateful to be with Maddy, Owen, and Cora, hanging out, playing, learning, and doing our thing, but when naptime came, I blogged.
When the kids went to bed, I blogged.
When I had a spare moment to myself, I blogged.
I was proud of the resource I was creating (I still am!), I was in love with the friends I was making (totally still am!), and I was in awe of the community I was building (you better believe I still am!).
But as my babies went off to school and my blog became my full-time job, things started to shift.
It was a natural shift, but a shift nonetheless.
Thank goodness for my dear friend Jessica Turner and a book she just published: The Fringe Hours– Making Time for You.
I love it, and I know you will, too.
I love it because it has helped me to rediscover–to reclaim–my fringe hours and to give myself a little more care.
Here’s the skinny. . .
Finding Time for What You Love–‘The Fringe Hours’:
The shift for me happened when writing and blogging stopped being a hobby and started being work.
Once I had to sit down and write, to meet deadlines, to organize finances, and to plan activities, I felt less ‘free’ blogging and instead felt more tied down, cranky, and frustrated.
I was always busy! Always.
Still, my fringe hours were spent blogging, but like anyone whose hobbies are put on the backburner for work, I felt. . . blue.
I needed to find time to do the things I loved: running, cooking, yoga, reading.
Over time, I have figured out a bit of a solution, but I always need reminders. I always need new ideas and new solutions to the age old problem: making time for me.
Why you need The Fringe Hours
I have waited for this book to be released ever since I learned that Jessica was writing it.
Having known Jessica for years, I always wanted to learn her ‘secret’ for being able to do it all. She works full-time. She has three kids (one is a newborn!). She runs a rockstar blog. She scrapbooks. She reads. She hangs out with her friends.
How did she do it all?
I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You.
And? This book has not let me down.
Divided into four parts– Explore, Discover, Maximize, & Live Well–each section is filled with actual tangible ideas for living a fuller life and making more time for me. But it’s not about reaching toward a goal of living a self-serving life; rather, the idea is that by making time for ME, I am able to be a better wife, mother, sister, and friend.
It’s true.
It’s a liberating and exciting book that, with each turn of the page, hit me with bits of information that I really needed to hear. I realized that I am a tried and true ‘wasteful multi-tasker’, often engaging in two tasks at once that both require mental energy. For real. It’s not good, friends.
As soon as I read it, I realized that though I thought I was helping myself by fitting more into my day, I was actually creating more stress to an already packed and sometimes stressful life.
I’m all about being fully present.
I’m more inclined now to make time for what is important for me because doing so leads to ‘greater joy and peace’.
I have learned to be more efficient with my time.
I have learned to let go of a lot and to shift my perspective.
I have printed out The Fringe Hours Manifesto and have it taped to my bathroom mirror–it’s that full of truth for me.
This whole book is aligned with what we’re doing in our #livefocused in 2015 push, and I’m thrilled.
I’m thrilled because no matter how you look at it or why you begin, shouldn’t it be our goal to live each day more deliberately, with more focus and intention?
This book is a quick and easy read, and I’m sure that by the time you finish, you’ll find at least a dozen small ways that you can purposefully incorporate a little more ‘me time’ into your day.
And the great thing, my friends, is that you will do so without an ounce of guilt, thanks to Jessica.
Check out some of the cool products that DaySpring is selling which in combination with The Fringe Hours, make a really beautiful and thoughtful gift for a friend, a sister, a mother–anyone.
I particularly love the The Fringe Hours Postcards and The Fringe Hours Notebooks. Both are super sweet.
Many thanks, Jessica, for your hard work on this project, and thank you, friends, for making some time for YOU this year!
belgian mussels with kids: a cultural adventure at home & trip of a lifetime
I haven’t read this book but I believe the bottom line is each day is only 24 hours. This is true for all of us. You can only fit certain amount of activities in one day; otherwise, you get stressed out, nervous, frustrated and of course cranky. Either you have to prioritize your tasks or you have to be a supermom to care for your family and work full time.