I’m a work at home mom. As a freelance writer and content manager, as well as a mom to three children, each day is a matter of balance and time management. My children need me, my clients need me, my community needs me, and of course the house needs me (well, in the sense that it needs my attention so we don’t wind up being featured in an episode of hoarders).
Just yesterday, for example, my husband was out later, leaving me alone with the kids. Of course that doesn’t mean that my work schedule can change. So, while meeting with a co-worker by phone, my youngest two decided to come in and talk about, of all things, poop. Very loudly and descriptively.
Normally, this sort of thing doesn’t happen because I have a reasonable home office set up, although it is a work in progress. My office includes a door that can be closed, and locked if necessary, although I typically won’t close the door if I am the only adult in the home (hence the seeming invitation to come in to the office).
One of the things I do need to work on with my home office is my desk. Right now, it seems to be a place where anyone who has anything that needs my attention, whether it be a household manual that needs to be filed or a piece of artwork to be admired, drops their item. I’d like to get my desk to be a work only zone and off limits. I create enough of my own clutter with everything from press packages to work-related hand written notes on small pieces of paper, so I don’t need anyone household items added to the mix.
Of course, sometimes my home office has to travel with me in a scaled down version of laptop, cell phone and a folder full of papers. Many the hours I’ve spent at one kid’s activity or another, conducting business. My two main satellite offices right now include the ice rink and the church hall.