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

The Germs Have Taken Over - And I've Waved The White Flag

My son has been sick of most of the last 4 weeks.  It's not been anything serious enough for the doctor to give him meds, but with a gross runny nose and fevers every other day, he's not been in preschool for almost a month.

When he finally got better, we sent him back.

And he brought home the flu.

And shared it with all of us.

So now is Day 5.  He got it first, then S, then me, then Steve, then E.

Now, 5 days later, Steve and I still aren't feeling well, while the kids are running around like maniacs!

We've Lysol, bleached, and steam cleaned EVERYTHING.  Which doesn't help my headache or nausea w/ the strong smells...

So I've embraced that I'm sick; I've used that time to focus on me.  I slept.  I watched movies.  I read 3 books on my Kindle.  (The Hunger Games Trilogy - I'll write a review later)


So here it is at day 5, and at least I'm out of bed and able to get some work done.  I suppose that's one of the benefits of working from home.

So while I sit writing, my hubby is resting on the couch, and my son is kicking butt on Wii Bowling.  Maybe tomorrow everything will go back to normal.  Today, I'll enjoy some quite time.