Working Moms: How Do You Scrap?!

LeeAndra

LeeAndra

Sweet Shoppe SugarBabe
So I've been working FT outside the home for the last month. We finally have our transportation issue resolved so I can get home at a reasonable hour.

Still...

I work from 8-4. I leave work, pick up Monkey from my ILs, and get home by 5:15-5:30 depending on traffic. Once we eat dinner, I do dishes and/or laundry, play with Monkey, give her a bath, and get her to bed, it is sometime between 9:30-10 pm. I aim to be in bed by midnight.

That leaves me a whole 2 hours on a weeknight to scrap. I can get one page done, maybe 2, but that's it.

Of course, I can scrap on the weekends to 'catch up,' but that obviously is a moot point when you are on several CTs that release during the week.

So... how do you do it, ladies?! I know there are several of you out there who work FT + are on several CTs. What's the secret?! How do you manage to consistently produce high quality scrap pages and on time when you only have a couple hours at night in which to do that?!

Thanks for any advice you have. :)
 
I have two boys under two, and work 40 hours a week, with a one hour drive both ways and run a photography studio gasp!

It's hard to find the time to scrap, I am so behind, so very behind. I can't really scrap when my boys are awake at least the youngest. I guess whenever you can get that free time to sit down and do it.
 
EVERY Thursday & a lot of Wednesday nights my family knows that it's scrap night. If I find time to squeeze it in on other nights, I will. But since most CT kits are up by Thursday, that's my designated night. Then weekends and breaks I try to get caught up on the pics I haven't gotten to yet. That said, I just finished 2011 today. :)
 
Speed. I'd have to say that they are probably quick and efficient when it comes to doing layouts. That's the only thing that works for me. If I spend too long thinking about it the layouts don't get done. I don't work full time but I may as well work full time with all that I had going on with my kids' schools during my off hours.
 
I've found that if I wait for an uninterrupted block of time to scrap, I don't get nearly as much done. I grab a seat and do what I can when I can. Daddy's giving little one a bath...grab a sec to scrap. Waiting for the casserole to bake...another bit of time to scrap. It does help that my daughter is in bed by 7:30 every night, so I do get time after that to scrap. I've noticed that I'm getting much faster at scrapping, too. It used to easily take me a couple hours to get a LO done. Now it takes me anywhere from 1/2 hour to an hour. I've also noticed that it takes me less time to scrap without a template that with one, but it hasn't always been like that, so I imagine that's a personal thing.
 
When I was working FT, I rarely scrapped during the week. I was tired and I needed to spend time with the kids.

I usually only got scrap time on weekends.
 
It just takes me a lot longer to finish a page, since I basically just keep PS running and work on them as time permits. I'm also a multi-tasker. It's not uncommon for me be helping the kids with homework while working on a page.
 
I don't work outside the house, but I hardly ever get scrap time until the kids are asleep. These days that means 9 most nights, 8:30 if I'm lucky. Weekends aren't much better; I probably get an extra hour of computer time each day. I'm a slow scrapper, so I've just made my peace with only scrapping about 3 LOs a week and not joining too many CTs.
 
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I'm not a working mom but a full time student (about 35-40 hours a week out of the home plus probably another 5-10 hours of work at home) so I hardly scrap but when I do its usually long weekends or vacations from uni when it happens
 
When I worked full-time, I would often scrap over my lunch hour. I had PSE loaded on my work computer because I did some photo editing stuff for work, so I just carried around a small EHD with the kits and pictures I wanted to use. At home, it was a little more sporadic since I had three kids under the age of 5 ... :)
 
I usually scrap after kiddo goes to bed. But he goes down early, at 7 pm. He will usually fall asleep right away, but if he don't he is really good at staying in bed, rarely falling asleep later than 8 pm.

He goes to bed a little later in the weekends, but not by much. This kid needs his sleep and his sleep pattern so much that if we fall off track he have the worst mornings when he has to get up.

ETA: full time here in Norway is 37.5 hrs and I work at the same school my son attends, making it even better is that it's within a 4 min drive from where we live. So basically we'll be home 15 min after I got off work.
 
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When I was working outside the house I would scrap in the 9-11 pm time range. I would get 1 page every night to every other night. I found keeping my teams spread across a few different sites worked best so that the due days varied. I also would get up at 5:30 am and could scrap for about 45 minutes before getting ready for work (and getting everyone else up).

When I switched to only scrapping for designers here (when I became a Babe 2 years ago) I followed the same routine. Having Thursday and Friday nights open helped. Also, the designers I work with usually share what kits they are working on and don't release every week so it's not crazy every week. I think you have to make it work for you. I think getting 1-2 pages done a night is awesome. If that isn't working maybe you need to look at cutting a few CT's or taking a hiatus until you get a schedule worked out?
 
This is exactly why I am not on any CT's right now. I even work at home, and I dont have enough hours in the day to scrapbook, but this is because I try not to work too much during the day, and have to work after the kids are in bed. I take Sunday's off from work though and often scrap at least 2 or 3 pages then!
 
I totally Multi task...I not only work 40 hours a WEEK, but am a full time student lol!!!! But when I sit down to scrap 2 of my kids are normally in their own rooms (19 & 11)-my dd (6) spends lots of time outside playing with the neighboor kids and my youngest (5) usually just finds something to entertain himself. But my dh and I both have our own computers and mine is in the great room so I can keep an eye on the 5 yo while I scrap..cook dinner...or do homework...if he needs something or its dinner or bathtime then I just leave Ps open until I'm done....my dh and I switch off ( I do baths and dinner and he helps with homework and does bedtime).....plus I don't think I have watched Tv in over a year so instead I scrap :) plus I am famous for throwing laundry in the washer/dryer anytime I go upstairs or before bed/work and my dh folds and I out away :) so for us we share a lot of chides and that helps us both have our own free time. I only work 2 miles from home so I have roughly an hour of peace before my dh and youngest D's get home...and once I start a lo I have to finish it because I hare to have to go back to it :)
 
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It's hard to find time...I commute on the train about 1hr each way...sometimes I bring my laptop and scrap on the train but I hate carrying it...Other than that I try to squeeze time in where I can...I usually scrap after my son goes to sleep but heck I'm tired by then too :)
 
When I was on multiple teams I was staying up till midnight or one. Sleeping five hours a night quickly got to me healthwise and creatively. The kids are now older so I get more time but mostly scrap Friday to Sunday.
 
I am in the same boat. I work 10 to 12 hours a day, have an hour commute, then dogs to walk, dinner to cook, dishes to do and a house to try to keep organized and neat. As a result, I do most of my scrapping on the weekends. I have been trying to do one to two pages during the week as well because now that summer is here, I spend a lot of time outside on the weekend taking care of the yard and house. It's a hard balance. Usually if I find time to scrap during the week, I am tired and not feeling artistic so coming up with a good page is hard. Since I am a goal orientated person, I am determined to improve my speed without losing the quality of my pages so that I can get more done in the same amount of time. I just keep working at it, while keeping in mind that this is my hobby, I do it for fun, so I am not going to put so much pressure on myself that is ceases to be fun. Having said all that, I am of absolutely no help to you on this one, but I will be looking for advice too. :D
 
I'm a night owl.... But force myself to go upstairs by 12..... Usually... I average a double every two days... But there are times I don't have the mojo.

I try to make sure to offer a blog post, freebie or something else if that works...most of my designers will count that... I tend to do tutorials so they are easy while I'm at work! I just put the images on my jump drive and bring it all in with me for lunch time. I also bring my laptop occasionally to work on pages.... I don't have PS.

Give it time and you'll find your routine... Scrap, life, and work. Try not to stress... I know that you've already told your designers, so as long as your trying, hopefully they will be really understanding!

Maybe pick a night or two just for you!!!

Jenn
 
I can't imagine the commute some of you guys have. It takes me less than 3 minutes to get to work. My DH probably takes 5 minutes to get to work, only if there's a train, otherwise less. As anxious as I am to get home after work, I can't imagine an hour or more commute. Heck, I get annoyed as heck when it takes me 10 minutes to drive home from Walmart now that it is at the other end of town.

As with most hobbies though, there isn't always time but you find the time somehow...
 
i don't work fulltime outside of my home, but i work fulltime at home. i babysit kids 60 hours a week, so, my kids get to go to bed at 730 or 8 every night. i NEED that alone time and if i don't get it, we all suffer. i usually stay up until 10 or 11, scrap and do my 'online stuff,' then and then i'm up the next morning at 6 to start it all over again.

i NEED that creative release, so i find time.
 
Honestly...when I worked FT outside the home, it was hard to get as much scrapping done. Luckily, I'm a night owl anyway, so I'd often stay up until 1-2 a.m. to get CT pages done. Obviously that's not an ideal situation, but it worked for me most of the time.
 
emmasmommy said:
i don't work fulltime outside of my home, but i work fulltime at home. i babysit kids 60 hours a week, so, my kids get to go to bed at 730 or 8 every night. i NEED that alone time and if i don't get it, we all suffer. i usually stay up until 10 or 11, scrap and do my 'online stuff,' then and then i'm up the next morning at 6 to start it all over again.

i NEED that creative release, so i find time.
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minus the job (i do work outside the home but not full time - only 28 hours per week), this is exactly me. i scrap just about every night after my boys go to bed and they are always in bed by 8 at the very latest. i stay up until 10-10:30ish. my problem is i am very easily distracted (hello, internet!) sometimes and i don't get as much done.
 
I do not work full-time or even part-time, unless you count working for the church we started last year (for which there is no payroll). But even with that, I have not been able to find time to scrap lately. It makes me sad because I miss it a lot.
 
Kara said:
When I worked full-time, I would often scrap over my lunch hour. I had PSE loaded on my work computer because I did some photo editing stuff for work, so I just carried around a small EHD with the kits and pictures I wanted to use. At home, it was a little more sporadic since I had three kids under the age of 5 ... :)
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I do this too shhhhh!
 
Sherri Tierney said:
I can't imagine the commute some of you guys have. It takes me less than 3 minutes to get to work. My DH probably takes 5 minutes to get to work, only if there's a train, otherwise less. As anxious as I am to get home after work, I can't imagine an hour or more commute. Heck, I get annoyed as heck when it takes me 10 minutes to drive home from Walmart now that it is at the other end of town.

As with most hobbies though, there isn't always time but you find the time somehow...
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Yeah it sucks, and thats on a good day. If there is an accident somewhere in that 30+ miles it can be 2 hours. O_o It's stressful for me because I have to get to my boys before 6:30 or I am whacked $10 bucks a minute.
 
I scrap in the evenings, typically after 9pm once my son is in bed. My daughter (who's going through the I can't live without mommy stage) will stay up with me but it works out because I don't get up until 7am anyway. I will scrap during my lunch break as well. I try to scrap every night and I can scrap more if DH or my brother cooks dinner that night. It's a struggle but it's the only way I know I will scrap. If not for my CT, I doubt I would make time :( I also catch up on weekends. I have a few of the designers who have their products up before the weekend so its a plus when they do :)
 
I dont work outside of home but i do have my 3 nephews here everyday... thankfully they all take a nap at the same time so i have atleast 2 hrs then to scrap.
 
This is one of the reasons I've switched to Project Life. It can usually finish a week's layout in about 2 hours on a weekend. Then if I have time during the week, I can scrap some "special" pages - not that that has happened in recent memory. :)
 
My biggest problem is that I work from home and am in my office for 8-9 hours a day so it's hard for me to come back in here and scrap. Still trying to get used to scrapping on the laptop.
 
I work full time as well as work / run our "newish" retail business we opened over a year ago... time is not something I have a lot of.... I NEED to scrap - it is very calming for me so i will actually edit my photos for the week , get the photos to my blank canvas, name it, buy and download my kits for each page, and then put on Dvd / USB - so I can scrap on my lunch and in between customers at my work - then make finishing touches at home and upload to any galleries - usually on the weekend. If I don't do this routine - nothing would ever get scrapped.
 
I work full-time and, until just recently, was commuting 3 hours a day. Now I am working from home 4 days a week and going into my office 1 day a week. It has been wonderful for my health and sanity! I find it so hard to find time to scrap - when I was still commuting, I basically did it Friday (if I didn't pass out) and Saturday night. I'm so behind that I'm only about half way through an album for 2009!! I'm not on any CT teams and just scrapping for me and I find it so hard to fit it in. I'm hoping that it will be easier now that I'm home more but so far I just find myself having to work after the kids go to bed because I have so much to do and there is a lot of work pressure that I'm trying to manage. I love to scrap but I never seem to be able to do it!!!
 
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