# How do you all keep up with HTing & Running your Businesses?



## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

This topic has been addressed with me regularly over the years, so I thought it would be interesting to find out just how we all keep up with everything.

DH runs his own shop (Machinist/Welding) and I am in Real Estate, also have a Nursery License. That is a lot to juggle right there...right?!

First and foremost, we aren't just spouses, but work to support each other in business, too. DH does his own laundry, helps with housework, and prepares breakfast each morning. I prepare dinner at night and he cleans up afterward. We eat lunch at different times, so prepare our own. I also snack, but he doesn't. We try to walk together, to have that time for exercise and visiting. He does most of his work early morning until dinner time. Mine starts later and I work a few hours every night (home office). Neither of us watch tv or have any other distractions from our daily tasks. If I need help with gardening, DH does what he can. This year, he is redoing the pathways to reduce mowing/weeding. While DH does his laundry at least every other day, I only do mine once/week. We can do 6 loads a day when we wish, since we have two indoor drying racks and an exterior line (contingent upon weather). DH takes care of our dog and chickens, while I feed our cats every morning.

Our garden and orchard are watered with soaker hoses, set up on multiple valves. We use timers on some, others we switch on/off by hand, and I only spend 20 minutes a day hand watering (stagger pots, flower beds, and freshly planted seeds). Weeding is done as needed, but regularly. I have a smart phone (resisted but gave in due to the necessity for my work), so I don't miss texts, calls, or emails. While out weeding last month, I received a call from a Military couple in N Carolina, who wanted to make an offer on a home in my area. I walked into my home office, wrote up the offer, and sent it to them via email. Having a home office makes it possible for me to juggle a lot! I have recently met this NC couple, who are also HTers  Since I have both an office in town and at home with zero attendance requirements, my schedule is more open to my clients. I have found that meeting them at the nearby coffee shop cuts down the meeting substantially (most want to tour my garden areas...)

Since most of my work is done on the net, I am often online at different times of the day. So, I can enjoy HT, while eating breakfast or lunch, taking a break after weeding, or after faxing/scanning/emailing docs. Since I am responsible for all the office work for us both, it is good my past work history involved all facets of that. I type fast, which sure expedites everything.

Most of my plants are sold locally, but I still ship them out once/week. Since it was too time consuming to have home visits from my customers, that was discontinued. Very few of my customers are invited here. I am propagating & planting a nice variety of herbs/plants and will be meeting with the buying group next month. Afterward, I will be visiting with my new friend. That is much easier than going to Farmer's Markets (had a few sellers offer to sell my plants, too, so that is an option). I also have friends with excellent hwy frontage who offered to sell for me. Blessings to be sure. Since I also opted to offer plant collection orders, my sales are bigger, making it more worth my time. Since I have a tendency to always plant more than I use, Christie Acres was born.

Earlier in the year, I taught three gardening/homesteading perspective classes (full), but got too busy with my real estate work to offer more. I only schedule those for when I have the time. They are taught off site, at my friend's dance studio.

When we take time off to go clamming, shrimping, fishing, boating or camping, I have my smart phone (can be reached by my Clients and DH doesn't miss his business calls). We have both gotten much busier (that is up/down in both of our businesses). 

We try to bundle as many errands as possible when going into town. That saves us time and fuel.

Everything is done by priority around here, so we make it work. Sometimes our home isn't so tidy, but it can wait its turn!

So, what do you do and how to you juggle it all?


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

Hi Lori,

Just found this thread...

Home(steading)/work/life balance is always changing for us. My wife and I have our own business and work from home. I am a scientific consultant/medical writer and she does graphic arts/medical illustration work. 

Most of our contracts only require work from my end of things, but we occasionally get an "all-hands-on-deck" scenario for a few weeks. My wife homeschools our 3 boys, which is another full-time job 

I tend to do most of the cooking, while she keeps the house running and coordinates the boys to do most of the cleaning chores around the house/yard. Everyone works in the garden/orchard as needed depending on the season.

The hardest thing to balance right now is the house construction. We are doing as much as we can ourselves and there is always research and taking time to deal with inspectors to factor in to the actual building process. 

Fortunately, our paying work is usually very flexible with regard to timing (few meetings), so I can work in the morning, afternoon or evening, as necessary. I, too, use a smartphone to allow me to get and answer emails/calls quickly even if I am in the garden or working on the house.

We all look forward to the day that the house is "done" (HAHAHHAHA) and there is just homeschooling and work to do so that we have a bit more free time. In the meantime it pays to keep everybody on a pretty tight schedule.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

You sound very busy, too! Flexibility is key to everything, it seems. Unexpected work came up this morning with a real estate closing. Due to that, all the work I planned in my garden now got shifted to later this afternoon. In the meantime, I just finish my other tasks until then.

May your home be finished soon, so you can breathe a bit easier...


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

Thanks, Lori! Glad we are both staying Busy with work (even though it may not always seem convenient).

I am very grateful to be able to work from home


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