This post is a double feature! First, an answer to a frequently asked question then a sneak peek of a GORGEOUS new baby! So here we go, a little insight into how JFP gets things done…

Fellow moms often ask me how I get my photog work done during the day with Ally. I am a stay-at-home mom, but I’m also running a small business. The mommy-hood is a full-time thing since that’s obviously constant and JFP is sort of a part-time gig since I only get a few hours of work done each day. No matter what, it’s important for me to work 110% at both with whatever time I’m given.

First things first, I take advantage of as much non-Ally time as possible! That means when she’s sleeping or eating, I’m working! She’s typically a late sleeper so if I am super busy and not super tired, I get up early and try to get at least 90 minutes of work done before she wakes up. This is a great time for me to enjoy my breakfast, answer emails, evaluate my tasks for the day and just have some quiet time. After Ally awakes, I get her breakfast, put her in the highchair and continue to work. Sometimes she’s occupied enough for me to get an additional 30 minutes of work done! After she’s done with her breakfast time, I try not to do anymore work until she’s napping in the afternoon. I used to try here and there in the recent past, but then I noticed myself just getting frazzled and angry with her because she’d bother me, and that’s definitely not fair to her. So I had to make the tough decision to not do work (no matter how tempting!!) while she’s not sleeping. If I am behind on something or just need to send some urgent emails, I’ll turn on Barney (her FAVE show) and that gives me another 30 minutes. I know it’s not good to let her watch too much tv, but it seriously calms her down and the messages are good. Plus there’s music and she really likes that!

My next and final round of work comes when Ally’s napping in the afternoon. She’s not been as solid in her nap schedule recently as in months before, but I still take what I can get. Sometimes it’s three hours, sometimes it’s just an hour and a half. This usually allows me to put together a blog post or two, edit pictures, finish up emails, make phone calls, do research, and any other tasks I can fit into that time. The recent addition of Lightroom into my workflow has definitely helped me maximize my JFP work time. Instead of editing one set of wedding pictures every day for a week straight, it now takes me like 3.5 hours (including culling!)…and I can get that done in a day or so! Session editing has also been drastically decreased to less than an hour so I sometimes have leftover time to get my workout in before my non-Ally time is done for the day.

Whew! So that’s about it…how I juggle being a stay-at-home mom and a small business owner. It’s a tiring and sometimes daunting task, but I love being home with Ally and I love my job. 🙂

And here’s a little peek at newborn baby Stella! Born last Thursday, she was just four days old when we took her pictures. You can see Stella before in her mommy’s maternity portraits here.

Stella’s full newborn post will be coming later this week! Look for a new engagement session on the blog tomorrow! Happy May everyone!!