Coming Up For Air
I have been working from home for two weeks now and I have discovered that I’m not very good at it. Actually, the problem is that I’m REALLY good at it. I sit down at my desk and I crank out content and sales and emails for HOURS. But that’s why I’m not very good at it. I sit there for so long that I don’t get anything else done.
I haven’t done a load of laundry in two weeks.
I haven’t cooked dinner in two weeks.
I haven’t written a blog post here in days.
And, most importantly, I haven’t hung out with my kids very much. They are being pretty good about that, but I can tell they are bored. They want to go and do things, but it’s just not that kind of summer this year. I try to make time for them by taking significant breaks to hang, but then I end up not going back to work for the rest of the day. I just can’t find a balance.
I put this issue out there on Instagram and received an overwhelming reply from my imaginary friends that I needed to try chunking my time in blocks. I went out last week to try and find one of those planners with the hourly break down every day, but I couldn’t find one I liked. So, I came home and found a really cute on one Pinterest and thought I would just print one every day for a while and see if I even used it.
Turns out, I didn’t like it at all. Not because of the time chunking but because it was on paper. So, I took my Google calendar and started using the Day view for hourly scheduling, instead of using the monthly view where I was just listing big picture targets and deadlines. I’ve been using it this week and it is helping a little bit. But I’m still not stopping to look at my dang calendar! This afternoon, I got smart and set alarms to go off when I was supposed to change activities. Hoping that helps tomorrow a bit.
(If you want to try the paper ones I found, here’s what they look like, and here is the link where you can download them. I think they are adorable!)
Actually, not tomorrow because both Chris and I are taking the day off to have a family day at the beach. We have had a big week in our house and we both are exhausted and excited and going 90 miles an hour. We thought stopping to hang out together as a family doing something completely not work related would be good for all of us.
This morning was a little bit of a break, too, because we woke up with no power for hours! And since I only have a desktop at home during the day (Chris takes the laptop to work with him every day), I was completely dead in the water for work. So, we used the morning to take care of some office things I have been needing to do. I found two really great paint samples. I think I like the lighter one. We are just painting one wall and the other three will be white.
(The color I am picking is “Sausalito Sky” by Glidden.)
I also picked out a desk at Ikea that I love. I found one very similar on Amazon, but I was afraid it was going to be too small. It was nice to be able to sit down at it and try it out before buying. I can’t wait to put it together!
And I picked out a new fan… not a chandelier, much to my disappointment. After being in the room for two weeks now, it is WAY too hot in here to not have a ceiling fan. I have giant windows that let in beautiful light, but they also let in sunshine all day long, making it really stuffy. So, I found a pretty fan instead.
But the great compromise has been Chris agreeing to get rid of the couch in here. It is just too big and if this is going to become our ClassMax hub, we just need a little more room. So, we have to figure out how to haul this ginormous thing downstairs this weekend. Stay tuned for that hilarity, I’m sure.
So, that’s where I am and where I’ve been this week. Learning to balance. Learning to prioritize. And learning to give myself grace when I don’t do it well. Any of your ideas for how to have a productive, balanced work day at home would be really appreciated in the comments below!!!
6 Comments
Hilda
I have worked from home for almost 16 years and in the beginning, I had some of your time problems. One thing that helped me was the pomodoro technique that you might have heard about. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
I’ve adjusted it for my own needs and ended up with 45 minutes at the desk and 15 minutes break. In those 15 minutes break I usually did some chores around the house also good for moving when you have to sit all the time at the computer. Cleaning up a room, making the beds, hanging up laundry, folding laundry, whatever was waiting for me. And I started a washing machine in the morning before I started office work. For many years, we have had our main meal midday (a healthy and nice break that we take time for). That means lunch has to be on the table by 1:30pm and in order to cook I will stop office work at 12:30pm. It’s very relaxing for me to be in the kitchen and cut veggies, listen to the radio, talk to the dog. After lunch I’ll get another 30 minutes to relax, snooze, get some fresh air, whatever I feel like. And then the afternoon work will begin. Same principle with breaks every 45 minutes.
During the kid’s vacation you might need to adjust all of your work. Maybe 4-5 hours are enough for office work. Plan with your kids ahead of time what you want to do and at what time of day and stick to it. It’s also easier for them to play by themselves or read or do some of their chores when they know at what time you will be there just for them. The main part is that you will plan it around your family’s needs and not because of a strict schedule that another person invented. Good luck!
Casey Y
Maybe for the summer months, you could get some type of whiteboard daily calendar. Try to schedule things with the kids each day and put those on the calendar along with your work schedule for the day. That way the kids can see it and know exactly what time you are supposed to stop working. I’m sure they will be more than happy to let you know when it’s time for their activity time.
nylse
The kids are not as needy as you think – when they see you working they are learning important life skills also: they are seeing work in action, they are understanding the value of work; they may also realize that they don’t need to be entertained so often and life is more than fun. Your children are getting bigger so they can also assist with some of those incompleted chores.
I’ve worked from home for the past 8 years; I’m not as formalized as the previous commenter but I do build in time for doing chores, etc.
You will figure this out.
Mariya
A pretty fan? Please post photos! 🙂
Sara M
If the couch is moving out….is it really a guest room slash office? Yay for the full office!
HeatherM
I’ve been working from home for 6 years. I do send my kids to daycare part time. Part of this is because my job involves calling people with sometimes terminal illnesses- I can’t have a baby and a preschooler crying or yelling in the background. It is hard enough to deal with dogs barking. But I also freely admit that I might be able to do it all some days- but I can’t do it all at the same time.
My husband and I try to think of work- AND FAMILY TIME- in a “punch-in-punch-out” kind of way- like you would at a shift work job. I “punch in” to family time from 7-10am and get everyone up, fed, dressed, and out of the house. Then I “punch in” to work at 10am. My hubby gets home around 5pm and “punches in” to family time for the next several hours- picking kids up and cooking dinner. Basically we try to be “on” at home and fully engaged in the mornings and from 6-9pm each night.
My kids spend every Friday with their grandparents. It is their special time together, and they all love it. They go visit great Grandma each Friday too, and those visits are the highlight of her week!
My hubby and I also have different work schedules, which helps a lot too. I work 10am-6:30pm, which gives me more time to be fully present in the mornings. He works 8-5, which gives him more time to be fully present in the evenings. After 9pm, when we put the kids to bed we are free to go back to working as long as we need.
Good luck in your journey towards finding work-life balance! It takes a lot of trial and error and practice to find your footing with it!