DIY, Kids, & Shift Work: How I Keep My Creative Fire Burning

We all know that motherhood is a wild ride. Now that my girls are a little older ( 6yrs and 4yrs) I feel like I am coming up for air, and have a little bit more free time now that the kids have a little more independence. This extra time has really had me thinking again “what do I want to do?” and “what do I want for my life?". Huge questions to answer!

For a while now, I have had this recurring thought and dream of writing a blog. So now I am taking the plunge and doing it! Now that I am not as sleep deprived and my girls are in school & preschool I have a little more time for creative endeavors between my shift work. It isn’t a lot of time but I will take it! In today’s post, I want to share with you how I set my creative goals while working and raising our girls. 

I love writing in a notebook and physically checking off completed tasks!

1. I embrace flexible goal setting

This means when I am outlining a project I will say that “in June I will paint the girls bedroom” instead of a firm timeline of I will complete the project by June 10. Setting goals as a busy mom helps set me up for success and less stress.

2. I set small “micro” goals. 

For example, when starting this blog, I quickly realized that “launching my blog” was too broad. So I started with, I will create the website by the end of February 2025, then my next step was I will write my first 3 blog posts. This made a very huge project seem much more manageable! Also, completing a check-list of small tasks kept up my momentum and made me feel much more encouraged that I was getting somewhere! 

3. I set small windows of time to be creative. 

For me, this means writing and creating when my girls have gone to bed. I set a time goal of 8pm-9pm several times a week. I really enjoy this creative time but also make sure I have a good hour before going to bed to fully relax. 

Also, since I work shift work, I do occasionally have a week day where I am at home and my girls at school. So I carve out 1-2hours for a workout and some creative time. 

4. I forgive myself when life is too busy and my creativity takes a backseat. 

This is very important. We all have days where we are exhausted and don’t have it in us to complete anything outside of caring for our families, on these days I forgive myself and give myself grace and tackle my goals the next day. 

5. I involve my family in my creative projects 

I find having my girls helping with simple DIY’s (gardening, organizing, crafting) helps keep things fun and lighthearted and is nice quality time spent together. I think it is also valuable to show my kids my creative side and that it is a valuable skill to nurture. 

Final Thoughts:

I hope you found some of these tips useful. Creativity is so important and very valuable and worth nurturing. Don’t ever feel selfish for taking time to be creative, your family will benefit from it. Also, if you are feeling stuck and maybe not making the progress you would like, remember that we all have busy seasons and creative seasons, give yourself grace and keep going. I would love to hear your creative goals, no matter how big or small, please share in the comments. Happy creating!