Today is the first day of my new routine.
I work from home, editing knitting patterns, for a magazine and occasionally for independent designers. I’ve always been paid by the project rather than the hour. I mean, with little boys running around, it’s quite difficult to clock my time. But recently I learned from an independent designer that most tech editors charge by the hour, and even though I was working by the project for her, she wanted to have an idea how much time it took me.
So I went out and bought a stop watch. And tried to use it for a week. Not only did I have to remember to start and stop it when I worked, it was a very enlightening experience as to how much work I was getting done when I felt like I was really working hard.
Make that a painfully enlightening experience. I try to work whenever I have a chance, which includes whenever the boys are playing nicely, which means even when they’re both awake. My attitude was that I had to make the most of every opportunity I had to work. Then when they’re asleep (or at least Joey’s asleep), I take time for myself to recharge and such.
After one morning of working as hard as I could, pedal to the metal, giving it all I’ve got, I had clocked 20 minutes of actual work. Yes, ladies and gentlemen – 20 minutes. I was worn out. By the time Joey went down for his nap, I could barely knit (aka follow a pattern), much less edit a pattern. Not good.
After talking with a couple more people in the industry and learning what they manage to get done working from home with small children, I decided that I would no longer do anything more complex than administrative stuff – answer simple emails and discuss projects over the phone – while the boys are awake. Theoretically, I would work an hour before the boys got up in the morning, two hours while Joey naps in the afternoon, and an hour after they both go to bed. The rest of the time, I would be a domestic diva extrordinaire. Like the subtitle on my blog. Which was supposed to be tongue in cheek.
Seriously. That would be time when I could go outside with the boys and knit while I watched them play. Or putter around the house doing domestic things. The stuff I never have time for. Because I’m always too tired. I actually do like doing homemaking things. I’m only trying to work 20 hours a week. That leaves 148 hours to do whatever I want to do. But I swear, it felt like it was the other way around.
This morning, I didn’t get up early as I had planned. Steve got up at 4:15 and left at 5:00, then I slept until Joey woke up, so no quiet time working before the boys woke up (or taking a shower either). I puttered in the morning, sat outside for an hour or so and knit while they played. Then Joey went to sleep, I took a shower (finally!) and then I worked for two hours. It was hard work, stuff I’d been putting off due to not thinking I had the brain cells available to get it done. But I sat down and did it, and it was only 20% as stressful as I expected it to be.
I have another project I need to work on, but I have no idea when Joey will wake up so I’m enjoying some quiet time by myself. Tonight once the boys are in bed, I will hit that project and get it to the next stage. If it’s anything like this afternoon, I’ll get lots done while feeling like I made hardly any effort. That’s how it’s supposed to be, right?
I do have things I like to do for myself when I have some peace and quiet, so the remainder of Joey’s nap is in no way going to waste. The only difference is that my stress level is negligible compared to what is normally is. And I know exactly how long I worked. It’s like getting the sense of accomplishment without all the frazzle that comes along with it.
Serenity now!
No, really. I mean that.
Serenity now.
