Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Mixing Work and Home Life


One of the hardest things that I have to deal with as a business owner is that I’m not just a business owner.  I’m also a mom.  
I don’t have a job that I can leave the office and the work stays there.  The office is my home, and my work is 24/7.  
I generally keep a rule that 9a-3p and after 8 until I can’t stay awake I am in work mode.  But that doesn’t always happen.  I’ll get a phone call that will last 45 minutes at 4, or something will need my attention for one of my clients.  It’s tough.
I still haven’t found that balance yet.  I try to get up a bit earlier every day (I’m not a morning person, so that doesn’t happen too often).  
I spend the 8-9a hour getting house stuff done while I’m shipping the girls off to school, before I take my son to preschool.  I’m thankful that he’s such a good boy, because the 2 days when he’s not in school, he plays with his toys, sits with me and colors while I work and stays quiet when I’m on the phone.
The past month he’s been sick - a lot.  It made my days difficult, because when my husband was in clinicals, I had to cancel my meetings.  Most people understand, but there's a few who don’t get it.  
I enjoy working freelance, it gives me freedom.  But sometimes, I just wish I had an office that I could go to, get my work done then go home... Something that I could do from home when the kids are sick.  
Maybe I need to just get an office of my own, outside of the house.  There needs to be a separation between work and play.  I have a few other work-from-home friends, they all have their own “work mode” and “play mode” ideas to differentiate when their working and when they’re not.  For me, if the high-heels are on, I’m working.  
But then I fall into the ‘networking no-no’.  I’ve been told several times that when I leave my house, it’s always an opportunity to be building my business, so I need to look the part at all times - make-up, no ponytail, name tag on.  However, I love to just go sit at a coffee shop in a hoodie and jeans and get some work done, it gets me out of the house and I’m comfortable.  I know, I know, ‘if you were to run into that person you’ve been wanting to meet with’...
Sigh...  It gets easier at some point, right?

My kids in cartoon form


1 comment:

  1. To "Balance" or "Blend" that is the question. Daniel Pink, in his book "Free Agent Nation" wrote a lot about that. Your post points out the frustrations of attempting to "Balance" your work and personal lives. Happy Free Agents give up trying to "Balance". Instead they learn to "Blend". Blending is more flexible. Blending is less stressful. Blending is liberating. Ultimately, Blending is empowering. I highly recommend it.

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