- What day of the week is it?
- What time of day is it?
- When does work begin?
- When does work end?
These were easier to answer questions when I was working in an office. Though I was much less productive, I knew that I couldn't get into the office any earlier than 7 a.m., and that I should leave by 9 p.m. (at the latest) if I wanted to get enough sleep to be ready for the next day. I never went into the office on Saturdays and Sundays, and I rarely worked on things at home. So, the boundaries were well-defined. In the office meant I was working; out of the office meant I was not working.
Now, the office is in my bedroom. So, I have trouble figuring out when to un-plug at times. Take Sunday night. I checked my e-mail before going to bed and saw that there was some database changes ready for my review. I sent an e-mail saying I'd check them first thing in the morning and then crawled into bed. But I couldn't sleep. After about 15 minutes or so, I got back out of bed and reviewed the database changes. Then, I went to sleep. At like 1:30 in the morning.
I'm not complaining. My employer gets more out of me; I don't have to waste time dealing with traffic; but it does get confusing at times.
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Speaking of work, who wants to read some of my latest posts on my Poetic Asides blog?
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Talked to Ben on the phone today about his and Jonah's first day of school today (Jonah almost never talks on the phone, and I don't blame him). Ben said that he had a great day and that he's already made lots of new friends. He's a people person. Then, him and Reese talked on the phone for like 10 minutes about their toys and what they're watching on television and stuff. As Reese put it, "We talked about 'boy' stuff."
Tammy got me out of the house today (thankfully) as we all traveled over to the library. Huge building. Not as many books as I expected. Reese and Tammy picked out four bed-time books that looked cute. Then, we all went to the park, where we had a picnic before playing on all the equipment. Fun, fun times.
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Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to review some new database changes. And maybe go to sleep.
3 comments:
when i left my day job i was just doing freelancing (and mostly unpaid work) from home whenever I felt like it then I started setting rules for myself, like I stop at 7 but that doesn't always work. If something is going on and I go to bed and ignore it, as you described, I can't sleep so better just to get up and finish it!
Still don't miss the office though :)
When my dad got sick, they allowed him to work from home, and it was awesome for him. And when I say sick, I mean really sick, and prolonged, not a cold or flu situation.
If more of our jobs were like this, think of the money that could be saved. Assuming people (other than you, and my dad) could be trusted to work from their homes.
Well, at least you're in relatively the same time zone. My oldest son lives in Bratislava, Slovakia but works for IBM here in the states. He's usually online for work late afternoon and much of the evening/late night local time.
Margaret Fieland
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