Home Work

I’m a freelance writer who works from home. For many years I viewed working at home as the ultimate ideal situation for a busy mom, the perfect way to roll together some family time and some professional goals.

It is ideal, in many ways -- I’m thankful for the work I have, especially in such messy economic times. But I’d be lying if I said the work-at-home set up is always a bed of roses -- it’s actually fraught with some significant challenges. Because I specialize in self-induced guilt trips, I cringe to venture a word of complaint. Many women would be very thankful to have this dilemma. I’m thankful to have this dilemma. These guilt trips aren’t especially productive, though. Especially these days, as I find myself in the middle of the most time-consuming project I’ve ever taken on, I need to get serious about finding the best way to strike balance in this tricky set-up.

This is the point in the post where I should tell you all the thoughtful solutions I’ve implemented thus far for setting healthy boundaries.  (Aaaand…you will notice it just got a little quiet.)

The truth is that I’m not exactly overrun with brilliant, thoughtful solutions, though I’ve tried to implement a few common-sense ideas. I try to set a defined space to work, and I stick to it (not always practical, since we don’t have a devoted office space in our home). Whenever it’s realistic, I work when the kids are at school (again, a luxury -- I am baffled, impressed and endlessly curious at how you work-at-home-moms of preschooler and homeschool kids manage).

Mostly I try (oh, how I try) to focus on the task at hand. I know it’s important and healthy to switch gears fully, engaging fully with my family when it’s time to leave work behind. This is easier said than done, some days, when that unfinished chapter or half-written invoice cackles at me from the desk down the hall. It’s entirely too tempting to hop up and finish, popping in and out of my roles so quickly that the boundaries get blurred. Many days, I’ve wondered (with tears of frustration) if the work-at-home arrangement is more geared for people who aren’t as distractible as I seem to be.

I suspect the not-altogether-easy answer lies in the mental discipline of setting boundaries and sticking with them. “The right thing isn’t always the easy thing,” I say to my kids, so many times they mouth the words along with me. It’s some advice I need to turn inward, as I continue to fumble my way through this.

And so I ask you (because I happen to know that the WAHM set-up is one that many readers here share with me): What are your best strategies for navigating the lines between work and home, especially when those two things reside within the same four walls?