The in-betweens

Don’t get me wrong, I love to have a chunk of time to get a lot done. I actually get up at five am six, if not seven, days a week because I want that precious uninterrupted time that just doesn’t happen when my 9 and 11 year old are moseying about.

With my husband back in the office, my time has gotten crunched. I’ve had to get creative and be willing to use whatever time I have to get whatever needs doing, done. All this with the caveat that I want to enjoy my life choices.


Between homeschool, writing, coaching, chauffeuring, being a home chef, mothering, and all the other hats, I’ve realized there’s a lot of in-between time. So that this week’s tip I’m sharing:

Instead of checking out when you get a quick break, trying checking off something on your to-do list.

Just this week, I did some camp research while in the dentist’s chair, took a zoom meeting from the car in between piano and taekwondo practice, and made a menu plan while I waited for my kids to finish their last bites of breakfast and load the dishwasher.

There are two benefits:

1. It makes me waaaay less impatient when I’m waiting on someone. Because I’ve gone from feeling like I’m wasting time to feeling like I’ve been gifted a moment to get stuff done.

2. I get so much done!

I’m all for taking a breather when I need one. Sometimes my productive act is taking a few deep breaths or doing a quick meditation. But I’ve found that I personally prefer to have a bigger chunk of time at the end of my day that’s ALL mine! By whittling away at my time-sensitive need-to-dos during the day, I’ve reclaimed one of my favorite evening rituals - reading.

Be wary of how quickly you can get lost in social media or distracted by someone else’s email or phone call. Something or someone will always claim your time if you don’t claim it first.

I’m not saying stop waiting for a perfect moment or planning for one. But I am saying don’t miss out on what can be accomplished in a fifteen minute window.

It’s not always ideal. But I’m always surprised how much action combined with consistency do for me. One phone call, a bit of research, writing notes, create a list, meditate, walk, breathe (intentionally)…

There is immense power in small steps as we build for the bigger ones. Create time in your life by finding your in-between moments.