Lenn Harley recently posted a blog about her top 10 reasons why a home office makes a lot of sense...
( http://activerain.com/blogsview/687518/MY-TOP-TEN-REASONS )
It reminded me of my failed attempt at "home officing"... granted, it was a quite a few years back, when my children were still iittle, but allow me to share how my typical day unfolded, and why "home officing" didn't work for me.
7:00 a.m. - wake, make my way downstairs, and help my wife, get our daughters dressed and ready for school (and by 'help' I mean 'watch', and by 'watch I mean 'squint' through my coffee deprived eyeslits).
7:30 a.m. - Still in my PJ's and robe, help my wife prepare breakfast (see prior definition of 'help' and add 'stay out of the way').
8:00 a.m. - Wave goodbye to girls, as they leave for school... give wife a perfunctory kiss goodbye as she heads off to work as a day-care teacher... and get ready to start my business day.. I'm already behind schedule because of things I didn't get done yesterday.
8:30 a.m. - You know... before I go down to my basement office, I notice that the dishes are still in the sink... I think I'll put them in the dishwasher... Oops... the dishwasher is full of clean dishes... no problem... I'll empty the dishwasher first... and then fill it and start a new cycle...
8:50 a.m. - Okay, ready to start my morning... should I get dressed first?... nah... oh, wait... Oprah is on in ten minutes... let's see who she has on this morning... and then I'll get started.
10:00 a.m. - Well, that was a wasted hour of watching Whitney Houston... fun, but wasted... okay, now I'll get started... ohhhh... Price is Right..... Two Hundred and Fifty-ONE dollars Bob!!!!
11:01 a.m. - I could have won both showcases, had I been there... okay... time to get to work.... Jeez, it's already 11:00... I'll go get dressed first...
11:03 a.m. - Where are my favorite socks? I'm sure they're downstairs in the laundry room... I'm mostly dressed, I'll find them as I go down to my office...
11:05 a.m. - Here they are, in the dryer... there that's better... Oh, there's a wet load sitting in the washer... I'll just get these clothes out of the dryer, and move the load into the dryer... won't take but a moment... and I guess I'll fold this load... hmm... I should probably take the laundry baskets up, too and put them in their proper rooms/drawers... hmmm my collar on this shirt could use a bit of ironing... and the lint trap is full....
12:15 p.m. - my office line rings, it's a colleague of mine... not really a business call... we just spend a while on the phone commisserating about how hard we work... he has a home office, too
1:30 p.m. - (yes, it was a loooong call)... hmm... haven't gotten a thing done yet... but I'm hungry now... I go upstairs to the kitchen... make myself a sandwich... oops... the dishwasher is finished, but clean... I'll put the clean dishes away...
2:25 p.m. - Okay... NOW I really have to get to work.... I'm behind schedule... I have calls to make... appointments to schedule, showings to set up...
3:30 p.m. - Front door opens, and I hear the kids pour into the house above me... I hear my wife say (as I hear footsteps approaching the stairs)... "no, no... leave daddy alone, he's working"... My wife comes into the office to find me hard at work (on the phone) setting up showings... gives me a greeting kiss... "how was your day"... I make the hand gestures for "busy, busy... shhh... don't bother me now"... she gestures apologetically and backs out of the door and makes her way back upstairs.
5:00 p.m. - Now feverishly at work... trying to catch up... my wife calls downstairs... "when do you think you'll be coming up"?... "I don't know... I'm busy, busy"... I answer... Very sympathetically she responds... "Dinner will be ready in about a half hour or so... we're having chicken..." and then she adds, very sympathetically, "You know...you work too hard!"
5:12 p.m. - I arrive upstairs... smiling... "You know, you're right... I DO work too hard!"... basking in the glow of my loving family, as I settle into my chair in the den. Tomorrow is another day.
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