Working from home is all very well in theory, but it has it’s downsides. The problem for me is distraction. (I also have issues with space to keep all my supplies and products neat and tidy, but that’s a topic for another day.)
Man works from home two or three days a week and he is also easily distracted. He takes the bag of outgrown clothes and toys to the charity shop, he pops to the Post Office for me – his distraction is helpful to me and he always manages to keep up with his workload, so there’s no harm done.
I find it hard to switch off from my work. I love what I do and I would design and sew whether I tried to sell the results or not. Because everything is here and accessible at all hours of the day and night, I have become very undisciplined about my time. Officially, I work when Toddler naps in the afternoon. She usually sleeps for a good two hours, a reasonable time for me to sew. Planning and designing I do in the evenings and odd times when all three children are occupied.
The time I use to work, though, has crept slowly up and up. I enjoy it, so it’s easy to justify to myself that extra few minutes, half an hour, all afternoon…
In the meantime, the folded laundry remains on the kitchen table, the floor needs mopping, my daily declutter and tidy all get forgotten and before I know it, chaos has taken over and I need to find a whole day (at least) to put the house back together.
If I could live with untidy, it wouldn’t be a problem at all. I would muddle along and fit work and housework in in a happy, random way.
I am not like that.
I like tidy, organised spaces, a place for everything, a sense of order. (I think I have a weird personality mix of crafter and minimalist, a completely unworkable combination.)
I can’t carry on like this any more. As from today, I will be organised and efficient and my house will be (mostly) tidy. How will I achieve this? I have identified two hours a day (Monday to Friday at least) that have, until now, been completely wasted. Between getting up and taking the children to school, there are two hours that I have previously spent (a) refusing to get up but not actually asleep, (b) helping Boy and Girl get ready for school or (c) checking emails and all the other internet stuff that sucks up your precious time. From now on, my days will have structure and this valuable time will be reclaimed.
Here’s my rough timetable:
Before 9am: Housework! Man will help the children, who are pretty independent anyway.
In the mornings: Admin (check emails, online shops, pack orders etc) for the first hour maximum, then Toddler has my undivided attention until lunch.
In the afternoons: Sewing time, while Toddler naps. After she wakes up, we’ll sort dinner out together, then get Girl and Boy from school.
Between school pick up and dinner: All the little domestic odds and ends – checking school bags, getting everything ready for ev
ening activities (piano on Monday, Brownies on Tuesday, Beavers on Wednesday, swimming on Thursday) and finishing off dinner.
After all those evening activities: The children and Man will put away all the toys (some training may be involved in my New Way of Running Things Around Here) and then he will bath them all while I sneak in an hour or so of planning, designing and sewing.
And after the children have all gone to bed, it will be time for a little glass of red with Man.
Today started off well, with lots of laundry sorted and folded before school. Now I just need to work on resisting those inappropriate fabric tendencies.