Hard Lines :: Work When I Work

One of the biggest challenges for me as I work from home is The Creep!

Work tasks slowly creep into my day.  Because I work online, any time I pop in to check email or Facebook, I can come across a work task.  It doesn’t even matter if it’s urgent.  If I don’t take care of it right away, it weighs on me and makes it more difficult to be present to my children.  If I do take care of it, it feels like I’m putting out fires all day long.

The solution: to work during work hours.  Even though I have the flexibility to work anytime, I have set work hours.  There are predictable blocks of time in my day for me to get work tasks done.  There are busy seasons when a project is due and I might need a few extra hours in the evenings or on the weekend.  But for the most part, I try to work when I work.  And when I’m not working, I close the work related tabs and windows.

This small shift keeps work from slipping into the rest of my life.