Working from Home (is it working?)

Get Balanced!

This post is part of the Balanced challenge with Tricia Goyer—and you can join, too!

I missed yesterday’s Challenge post, but I’m going to focus on chapter 2 of the book today.

Chapter 2 of Balanced is all about how your work actually benefits from you being at home to do it. However, my thoughts went a slightly different direction when I read Tricia’s statement, “Working at home provided a crash course in time management.” And at the end of that section I read this:

Life and work don’t always run on schedule; instead I’ve learned to focus on cutting out time wasters so I take care of my priorities.

I have neither learned to manage my time well, nor been any good at cutting out time wasters. 

In the reflection questions for this chapter, Tricia asks, “What can you do or change to make working from home actually work for you?”

I need a complete work schedule/home life overhaul! I confessed to my husband and my girls (as if they didn’t already realize it) that I am doing very poorly at separating work and home life/family time. I have no designated times for anything–work bleeds over into everything else.

The problem with this is, nothing (or no one) ever really gets my full attention. Not good for my work or my family.

So this is what is going to change:

• I will be creating a schedule of some sort, with designated times for writing, editing projects, and blogging stuff and family times and activities. This will have to include times in the morning where I’m working on “lighter” stuff like email, social media, etc. so I can easily be available for school help. (Since my girls are both teens, a lot of the homeschool work they do is independent and self-motivated. But I am still needed, especially when it comes time for math for my youngest.)
• I will commit to stepping away from the computer when it is time to be done with work.
• I will set up a designated home office area (no more camping out on the couch) and make it pretty so I’ll want to spend time there. I’ve got a small desk, and a space in our house, but here’s what it looks like right now:

Cluttered, crowded, and fairly blah!

I’m sincerely hoping that by writing this out and posting it for others, including my family, to see, I will be held accountable for implementing these changes.

And just in case you’re interested, I’ve started a Pinterest board entitled Work at Home, which contains helpful articles from experienced work-at-home moms.