I started working from home in September, 2006 and for a long time I cherished the ability do so much while I worked. During conference calls I can easily run/empty the dishwasher, change/fold the laundry, make the bed, plan/start dinner, make a grocery list and more. Plus, since I take lunch whenever I feel like it, I can squeeze in grocery shopping, exercising, walking the dog, doctors appointments, cleaning the house, etc -- all while getting my work done ahead of schedule.
In the past two years I've even been able to add Charlie's sick days, picture uploads, blogging, additional laundry, and volunteering my administrative skills for church. With a managable workload and the ability to set my own deadlines for everything else, it's seemed like a win-win situation for a long time -- Jason and I have felt extremely blessed that I've been able to handle so many of the logistics and little things, so we can relax in the evenings and on the weekends.
But lately I find myself despising the fact that it's so easy to just run upstairs and change the load of laundry or empty the dishwasher or stop by the store on the way home from daycare...because I have no excuse not to do it, and in the end, I find myself stressing out over my spreadsheets because I need to change the laundry, then get upstairs to run by 11:30, so I'm done by 12:30 for a call, then finish my work and squeeze in a shower, but still start dinner by 4:00 before I go pick up Charlie so I can play with him when he gets home...while finishing dinner and tidying up the house, running the vacuum to rid the house of dead grass and hopefully folding the load of laundry sitting in the dryer before Jason's shirts are irrevocably wrinkled...
Obviously, something's got to give, but I'm just not sure how to go about it. How does one escape the guilt of saying no to herself and allowing the dog toys to remain in the middle of the living room -- especially when all of the people that work away from home would give their right arms to get a few more things done during the day and probably want to smack me for complaining (rightly so!)
I guess I just need to figure out how to give myself a little leeway on days when I have pressing deadlines or overlapping conference calls -- but how? I feel like such a slacker when I don't get it all done, since I'm home all day, which leads to some very grumpy mornings when I look at my to-do list and my work schedule and realize that it's just not going to happen. Any suggestions?
In positive news...we're making serious progress in other fronts...
Charlie is starting to earn his keep and do some of the heavy lifting around here:
and Otis is caving despite his best intentions:
You don't have to tell me about that! Sometimes I have to pretend like I'm in an office somewhere else just to keep my eyes off of what's going on around me.
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