Like most writer’s I know, I work from home. As I write this, it’s nine AM and I’m still in my pajamas and robe and contemplating whether I should take the time to make a decent breakfast with the appropriate protein/veggie/carb ratio or if I should just bolt a big bowl of sugar cereal. (Does Applejack’s count as a fruit?)
Now don’t get me wrong, I love working from home and I only feel a little bit of guilt when I realize I haven’t left the house in three days or haven’t showered in two. (Hey, I’m under deadline, don’t judge!)But I find that the longer I work at home, the more the lines between work and home get blurred. For example my to do list for the day:
Work on blog
Revise four chapters
Write illustrator back
Make green juice
Write new blog
Work on synopsis for new proposal
Vacuum
Choose and order promo swag
Ask Tracy where she gets her veggie seeds
Go over twitter chat post
Take review books to post office (oh, god, I have to leave the house!)
Make vet appointment for Ducky
Workout (This has been on my daily list for three weeks and I have been able to cross it off once. ONCE!)
Take out chicken for dinner
See? My life is blurred into a long list of OVERWHELMED.
I already work from three lists, Master, Weekly and Daily. They are a mishmash of things that have to be done in both my personal life and my work life. Does this increase the anxiety or should I separate them? The thought of adding another list to mix totally freaks me out. It might help if I had an office, but I don’t like the thought of being isolated from the rest of the family so I work in my dining-room. (I ditched the table and put in a desk years ago). Perhaps this increases the blur, I don’t know.
Perhaps in reality, even though combined to do lists overwhelm me, my writing life and my personal life are too intertwined in my mind to be separated. I’m a big picture person, maybe compartmentalizing my life into separate boxes simply won’t work for me and I am searching for a seamless balance between the three things in my life I have decided are priorities… my health, my relationships and my writing.
So while I envy those people who have a separate office and keep separate lists, I don’t think I will ever be that person. Do you guys keep everything separate? Do you think it increases anxiety or lessons it? I’m always looking for ways to hone the system!
I do have a separate office. I have to or I would never get anything done. Every time my DH would come into the room, I’d be distracted. He works from home too and I already get a slight distraction if I even hear him come out of his office downstairs.
I do combine family life, writing life, church life, etc. all into one. I do it with 3 Google Calendars that talk to each other so I can do all my additions in one place and easily see what’s going on from my computer or my phone. Here are my calendars:
1. My writing details (deadlines, events, blog posts, hosting other authors on my blog, etc)
2. My friends, family, church details (meetings, get togethers, reminders to get in touch with someone)
3. A calendar I keep for my husband and I with doctors appts., get-a-way plans, any ongoing discussions/meetings with banks, insurance people,etc.) I keep it for both of us so we can always see what the other has going on.
I do make lists too on stickies. But I make so many of them I get lost. 🙂
I don’t use google calendar, just my outlook, but am thinking of finally getting a smart phone and will look into it. What you do makes so much sense.