I know many agents have a home office and do the majority of their work there. I paid for an office for a year and never used it, so when my lease ended I did not re-new it because I thought it was a waste of money. That was on September 1 ‘07, my wife delivered our second child on Aug. 22nd '07 and all of the sudden we had a two year old and a newborn at home and no office for me to go to. Until the baby was born I never realized how much more difficult life was going to be with two especially trying to work from home.
My office is in an alcove area that is attached to the living room - the area that the kids are usually in. It is not an ideal space for me, but the effort to move everything upstairs doesn't seem worth it as before long my two year old will figure out I'm up there and be able to get up the stairs and bang on the door himself when he wants me. I feel bad enough when he pulls my hand and wants my attention but if he makes his way all the upstairs then I will feel worse. Guilt is probably the worst part of working at home because I am physically there but not available.
I have been working on SEO which is a feat in itself since a few years ago I knew nothing about computers except how to turn it on and occasionally check my email. A concentrated, undisturbed effort on my part is needed but, between a crying baby and tantrums by my toddler it is hard to get even 10 minutes of silence.
To quote Susan Ward who writes about running small businesses in Canada: " Running a successful home-based business with kids can make you feel like a hamster trapped on an exercise wheel; you just run round and round and don't feel as if you're accomplishing anything". She hit the nail on the head. Even though I am not the main care giver, I am a very hands-on Dad. My wife helps me out with my work too so we are kind of interchangeable to the kids for the most part. At times we both feel like we are running around and not getting much done. We actually have said our life is like a relay, passing the baby as we go back and forth during our daily chores and work.
I hear of so many work from home moms and dads, but does anyone have little ones like I do? They are more than a full time job themselves. Other than taking back my rarely used office my wife and I are trying to devise a schedule so we will each know what to expect and as the kids get older they will too. Hopefully they will appreciate that they have both parents at home and that we do everything for them. Fingers crossed that we can implement it and it gets less chaotic around here!
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