Working at home often means working around children, spouses, roommates, family, or even pets, and that means: interruptions!
Even those who live alone are not exempt. Little things called cell phones, Twitter, Facebook, email, or your favorite TV show can cause interruptions.
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| Bunny Plush Toy by Bobaloo |
The solution?
EXPECT to be interrupted. ACCEPT being interrupted.
That is advice given to us by Samantha Howard of Bobaloo! Samantha is a work-at-home mom whose shop was named one of Babble.com's 50 best Etsy shops for babies. I interviewed Samantha last year as part of my Making it Work series, and asked:
What one piece of advice would you give to a mother who wants to start her own business, and work at home?
Samantha: Anticipate being interrupted often, and just accept it as part of running your business from home.
I know when I set deadlines for myself, like cut 20 bibs before
dinner, I get twice as stressed when one of my kids needs something
from me. If I just plan to get as much done as I reasonably can, it leaves me the option of joining in the Yo Gabba Gabba dance party reasonably guilt-free.
You can read the entire interview from the Making it Work series with Samantha here.
I know from my own personal experience that it is a lot less frustrating when expectations are low. Especially when I am the only adult home with the kids, I plan on getting very little accomplished, and that is something I've learned to accept.
If you live in an environment with frequent interruptions, it may be necessary to expect to be interrupted. Plan ahead. Leave the house to do urgent work, if necessary. Accept your situation, and adjust your work load accordingly.
Great post. One of the biggest adjustments I have had to make to my life after having my little one is to limit my goals for the week to what is achievable. I am used to getting all the tasks on my list done, but with bub in tow it just doesn't happen. I end up starting to many things and not finishing them. So now I set myself a small task each week. I have the satisfaction of getting it done, rather than the feeling that I haven't achieved what I set out to do. This week it was sorting out the girls clothes for the change in season.
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful approach. Isn't it amazing how much longer things take to do after having a little one? I used to just need one evening or one weekend morning to clean the whole house, and now it takes me about a week.
ReplyDeleteAnd way to go you for getting the clothes sorted out! I always tend to do that *after* the season has changed. I'm curious - what are the season changes like near Sydney? I've never visited Australia, but I always imagined it to be beautiful year-round near Sydney.