Can I call you back? I’m in a meeting.
January 8, 2009
Every so often, when I describe what I do to someone, they respond with an amazed expression and ask me “How??” It’s happened often enough that I’d like to answer here.
Ok, I work at home, with three young boys and an almost-crawling baby underfoot. We homeschool, and I attempt to keep the household running at a basic level of efficiency. But use this line as often as a high-powered corporate executive. Why? Because it reminds me to be fully present in whatever activity I’m involved in.
“I’m in a meeting right now. Can I get back to you later this afternoon?”
It’s always such a temptation to spend all day with my head in my latest story, or chatting with readers - or blowing off work entirely to make blueberry playdough cakes and play trains! On the other hand, if I’m knee-deep in a new project, it’s so easy to set the boys up with one independent activity after another and find that I spent all day doing nothing but breaking up disputes over whose turn it is.
So how do I get anything done, without paid childcare? Meetings. I schedule at least one meeting every week. I’m the only person who attends, we meet at the local coffee house for about 2-3 hours, and my husband gets to have the kind of four-on-one parenting experience that I’m lucky enough to have every day. Dinner goes in the crock pot so we can sit down and have dinner together as soon as I get home, and I get about 4 hours worth of work done in 2-3.
To make it all work, I have to be prepared. I walk into the coffee house with a to-do list, my word processor already started on the laptop, and my email client shut down (unless I’ll be using it of course). My research is neatly filed in my briefcase (or stored online, but that’s another post!) and ready to go. This way, I don’t spend my work time trying to figure out what to do. I can hit the ground running.
Posted by Tricia @ 7:47 am in The writing life
