How Do You Find the Time?

As part of the Mom It Forward Blogger Network I am being compensated by Dunkin’ Donuts® Coffee K-Cup® Pods for participating in this campaign. All opinions of K-Cups are 100% mine! 

I often get asked how I find the time to do everything that I do. And to be quite honest, I always feel a little uncomfortable when approached with this question because I don’t see anything that I do as out of the ordinary. Just recently I was at my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary party and saw a lot of family members that I haven’t seen for a very long time and they met our children in person for the very first time. We pretty much just keep up with each other on Facebook, as I’m sure a lot of you do with your family, but it was so lovely to get to actually see them and give hugs. Well during the party I think I had at least four people say ‘wow, how do you find the time to do everything? Four young children, a business, a blog, a book’. I never know how to respond to that question because it’s not that I ‘find’ the time. We are all given the same amount of time during the day. So the question shouldn’t be how do I find the time, but rather ‘how do you find the energy and motivation’, don’t you think? We all find ‘time’ for the things we are motivated and excited to do. 

My energy and motivation ebbs and flows just like everyone else. But one thing that helps me through my days is coffee. When I am so tired at 6:00AM each morning and waking up to nurse sweet Josephine, all I can think about is ‘at least I have my coffee’. It’s my morning ritual. My sweet husband brings me the baby and as I begin to nurse her, he puts a blanket over us and prepares our coffee (I like mine with just a little bit of milk). Then he brings me my coffee and my phone and heads up stairs to get ready for his day. Just knowing that I get to have my coffee gives me the motivation and energy to start my day.

We love Dunkin’ Donuts® coffee (and I say that with all honesty……..not just because they are paying me……although that’s nice too). Ever since I moved to Chicago from Texas in 2000, Dunkin Donuts coffee has been our favorite. We buy the whole beans from the store to grind and brew in our big coffee pot for the morning. But every day around 3:00PM, I start to feel sluggish and need a pick me up. You know that feeling, right? My girls get home at 2:45 and there’s always a bit of chaos with the two of them coming back into the mix. But knowing that I have my coffee to look forward to, brings a sense of calm to the situation.

Dunkin’ Donuts® Coffee K-Cup® Pods are now available in the coffee aisle of the grocery store. Yay! I use my Keurig machine to brew my afternoon cup of joe because I don’t want to make an entire pot. There’s no measuring or filters, you just pop your favorite Dunkin Donuts K-Cup Pod in the Keurig and you have a delicious cup of coffee in no time! And one cup is all I need to give me the energy to finish my day strong. Dunkin’ Donuts® Coffee K-Cup® Pods come in their Original Blend and Dunkin Decaf, but my favorites are the French Vanilla, Hazelnut and Chocolate Glazed Donut flavors. My husband isn’t into flavored coffee, so my afternoon cup is where I get to add in a little sweet flavor. I also think having a variety of coffees on hand is great for when you have guests over. My mother-in-law always keeps a wonderful variety of K-cups® at her house and it’s so much fun to get to pick out whatever coffee flavor strikes my fancy. It’s also nice to be able to have Dunkin’ Donuts® Decaf Coffee K-Cup® Pods on hand so that if you are brewing a large pot in the morning, you can offer a decaf option to guests as well. With Memorial Day right around the corner, Dunkin’ Donuts® Coffee K-Cup® Pods will be perfect to have on hand. It was also Dunkin Donuts 65th birthday on May 15 – Happy Birthday Dunkin’!

As of lately I just haven’t had the energy to sew or blog much. Not because I don’t want to, but with four little children, one of which is a 7 month old, I just can’t find the energy. Our house still hasn’t sold, so the fact that it always needs to be ready for a showing, makes it tough to want to get out all my things and get creative. I did recently sell off a large amount of fabric (see first image in blog post) via The Cottage Mama Etsy shop, so that’s helping keep the sewing studio looking neat and tidy. Selling a home with four kids, ages seven and under is a challenge…….that’s for sure! I plan to sew some things this week because I’m heading to St. Louis to Baby Lock headquarters to film 10 sewing videos for you all. I think you’re really going to like them. I’ll be filming a lot of my unique sewing techniques and I’m really excited about being able to give you a better visual of some of the instructions that you find in my sewing patterns and here on the blog. Another item on the ‘to do’ list that has been taking up a good part of my energy is selecting all the items for our new house. It’s been so much fun and such a blessing to have this opportunity, but it’s also been a lot of decisions which all take time, thought, planning and energy.

So I don’t think it’s that I ‘find’ the time to do anything. We all have the same amount of hours in a day. It’s how we choose to spend them that is the difference. Of course, if you are working a job outside of the home, you may not have the opportunity to sit down at your sewing machine as much as you would like or do much at the end of your work day. But my mom just retired last June, and even when she was working full-time, she was quilting up a storm……..she found the energy and motivation to do the things she loves. She would spend her evenings and weekends sewing because she found the energy to do so by having an activity that motivated her to want to do it. Sometimes that means sacrificing in one area of our lives to give energy to another. I think we all find the time to do the things that we are motivated and excited about accomplishing. And some of us (like myself) need a little extra help from our friend ‘coffee’ to make everything happen.

The next time you see someone doing something that you can’t imagine having the time to do, let’s not think about them having time because we all know there are 24 hours in a day, but rather how do you find the ‘energy’? I find mine in love, passion and coffee.