My Kids Are Sick and I Have 150 Emails
The last two days my Blackberry has been beeping like crazy, and right now I have an inbox of 150+ messages. Am I really that busy? No, not usually but I have had to take some time off to take care of my kids. Both are home sick with the crud that always goes around this time a year.
Days off, sick days…this is not something you can really do with a home-based business. In the early years this was one of my major struggles. My office used to be the kitchen table. You really can’t get away from your work with a laptop in the kitchen! I soon realized I needed to move my “office”. My husband and I decided to make our guest room a dedicated office for me. This has by far been one of the best decisions we ever made! It is somewhat easier to shut the door at the end of the day. I still have a tough time with actually shutting the door but I am trying!
I have also tried to keep better office hours. I try to stop working from 3pm to 8pm. This is usually the time that my kids are home from school until they go to bed. Of course I then stay up pretty late catching up on those 5 hours but this is what seems to work best for my kids.
When they are sick that throws a wrench into the whole program, but I have to just roll with it. It’s important to remember that we all need some time off. As a business owner and a mother I have to realize what is more important at that moment. Right now my kids need me more than my business so that is where I will be, as for my Blackberry I think I will have to turn it to mute!
1 Comment
Sean Collins says:
Kara,
Why is it that we have no problem turning "it" off when we have a normal 9-5 job? But when it's our own business we'll work all kinds of crazy hours and "it" consumes our life? Is it because we get more joy and satisfaction from our own business? Is it because we have clients that don't realize we have lives beyond our business? Or is it some fear we have about losing everything if we take a break for a few hours?
I hope it's the satisfaction. That's the excuse I'm going with. But you always have to make time for those important people or life will slip by.
Sean
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