So when I was deciding how this work-from-home thing would actually work, I thought a lot about what small-biz owners the world over know all too well - that it can be almost impossible to separate business from pleasure, especially if you have a home office. When exactly do you stop working for the day? When do you stop working for the WEEK?
My theory about why this problem even exists is as follows: People who choose to work from home (and have that luxury) do so because they actually LIKE their jobs. People who choose to establish home-based businesses probably do so because they DISLIKED their former jobs enough to call it quits. In either case, I think it's a fair assumption that people with home offices are probably pretty happy with what they're doing; thus, it seems almost unnecessary to draw "arbitrary" lines in the sand about when you will stop working for the day or week or month. Why stop what you like doing?
Well, because it's healthy not to work all the time, that's why. So in an attempt to organize my week, I decided to strictly adhere to a new self-imposed rule - no computers on Sundays. Yesterday was the trial period and boy, it was HARD. Usually, my day starts around 5:30 or 6 (weekdays or weekends, doesn't matter), when I open my laptop and get to working. I use the term "working" loosely here, because I could be doing something that's actually productive...or I could be reading one of the gazillions of web-zines or blogs that I haunt on a regular basis. Either way, I really like my computer and I like my habit of greeting it early in the morning, bowl of coffee in hand and quiet all around (especially on a weekend, when hubby and dog and cat really don't get up until long after me).
So it was hard not to do that yesterday, especially since I hadn't slept well the previous two nights, during which time I finally got to finish reading that long-awaited Forbes laying on my coffee table. (Ahhhh, conservatism in the early morning hours...turns out it's just as disturbing as it is in the afternoon or evening, yet still completely informative for people fascinated by the psychology of billionaires...but I digress.) I was laying awake staring at the ceiling fan and wondering...worrying, really...what I would do with myself for the next couple of solo hours. So I just laid there until I fell back asleep and it turned out not to be so bad, getting a little shut-eye. And guess what? When hubby and his dog finally woke up, we laid there and had a nice long chat about random things...because I wasn't in the kitchen, on my computer, getting the morning coffee buzz by myself.
The rest of the morning went pretty much the same way - I even watched a bit of T.V., which I haven't done in ages. It turns out that when you're not glued to your computer screen, you can actually have some decent conversations with people...you know, your FAMILY, those people with whom you rarely interact during the week. We talked about all sorts of things and I'm sure I learned a new thing or two - I don't think we've had conversations like that in the time we've been married, actually. Just never happens. I found myself thinking, "So, THIS is what they mean by communication. Huh, whatdya' know? We're pretty good at it." The funny thing is that HE was on his computer some of the time we were talking because HE apparently doesn't have to observe the Computer-Free Sundays rule...
We had plans yesterday that included driving up to Bridgewater, so much of the afternoon was spent in the truck, at a restaurant, and then in the truck again. By that time, I was jonesing a little for technological interaction, so not having my laptop on hand, I reached for the old standby - the trusty iPhone. And then I looked at hubby, who looked back at me and said, "You're ridiculous." At which time I quietly put the phone back in it's place in my bag and looked out the window at the beautiful Jersey Turnpike view (if you're not familiar with the Turnpike, then please inject serious sarcasm into the previous statement). When we got home, I found myself wondering what to do, what to do. Hubby likes to sit outside and read the paper sometimes, so I tried that for about five minutes - didn't work because the allergens were a-swimmin' around my head and making me very uncomfortable. But hey, I gave it a shot. In the time that I WASN'T on my computer, I did laundry, brushed the cat (believe me, this is a serious undertaking), reorganized my closet, straightened up the house, and did some other stuff I can't remember. All without a headache because my eyes weren't strained from staring at a screen all day. Then we watched a Netflix movie that had been sitting around the house for far too long - it turned out to be "Public Enemies," that Johnny Depp movie about John Dillinger. Good stuff - I really liked it, but of course it didn't have a happy ending.
And then I went to bed, at which time I slept almost the whole night! Pretty amazing stuff.
But what really surprised me about the whole Computer-Free Sundays test run was what happened to me this morning. I keep a list of things I need to accomplish on each day during the week so that I know I'm doing everything I should be doing - I've found that when I'm not in a deadline-driven office environment, I have to create my OWN deadline-driven office environment to get anything done. But instead of jumping out of bed and going straight to the computer, at which I would normally sit for several hours before destinkifying myself and going out into the world, I stayed right where I was. In bed. And do you know what I heard?
I heard the coolest bird chirping away. It had this really rhythmic song pattern that I found myself drumming along to.
Why is this amazing? I hear birds every morning, so what was different about this one?
Well, I'll bet you that same bird (or family of birds, as it turns out) has been singing that same rhythmic song outside my window for weeks, but this was the first time I actually HEARD it. I wasn't in a rush to do something else; in fact, I seriously considered making it a Computer-Free Monday, too (but that wouldn't be practical). I heard that bird and I couldn't get up because I liked listening to it so much.
Eventually, I did get up and I'm in my usual position right now - sitting at the kitchen table with my bowl of coffee (this morning, it quite literally is a bowl with a handle on it) and my laptop, no T.V. in the background (I detest daytime television especially), and a snoring dog in the next room. But guess what? I can still hear that bird outside my kitchen window. He and I are friends now - we're making plans to hang out tomorrow morning and probably for the rest of the week. I asked him how the fam was and he says the kids are alright.
t.
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P.S. (at about 12:30pm on Monday): Speaking of the wily ways of nature, I just witnessed the most fascinating thing at my kitchen window. I heard very recently that spiders are good to have around if you've got problems with stinkbugs (which we do, like everyone else in our great state right now). I just snapped a pic of a spider dangling down on its little silk rope, where it had captured a stinkbug twice its size. I felt kinda bad taking a picture of the bug's demise, but it's nature - whatdya' gonna' do? Who am I to mess with the natural order of things? Anyway, it made for some pretty interesting viewing - it took a loooooong time for this spider to have its way with the stinkbug, but had its way it DID. Now both are gone somewhere, one digesting the other no doubt. I've always liked spiders. Now I know why.
t.
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