A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

I am a big proponent of not envying others. But that’s easier said than done. This is especially true when it comes to my family. My brother and sister are both doing pretty well for themselves. The economy is affecting them just like it is everyone else, but they were better off than me to start with, and they still are. I’m happy for them, but I can’t help feeling a twinge of jealousy when they’re off enjoying Caribbean cruises and redecorating their homes while I’m barely scraping by.

It kind of helps to know that they envy me a little bit too. Both have been asking a lot of questions about my writing lately, wanting to know how they could get into it. Like me, they’re attracted to the idea of making money while working from home on their own schedule. I must admit that it is a pretty sweet deal. It would be even sweeter if I could get my head on straight and concentrate like I once did so that I could make more money, but I have faith that it will happen.

They’ve asked for advice on getting started with something like I do, and I’ve given them some ideas. I’m not at all selfish when it comes to that, whether it’s them or someone who is scraping by like me. I’d love to see them get started working from home and be successful. Maybe it would even help motivate me to do better. Jealousy is not always a bad thing, you know.

Pumpkin is on Spring Break from school this week. I wish I got a spring break. Well, for all intents and purposes, I guess I’m kind of taking one.

It’s hard to get anything done with the kiddo at home. She’s pretty good about letting me work considering her age, but even when she’s entertaining herself I find myself getting distracted. I do a fine job of getting distracted when I’m home alone, so as you might imagine, I haven’t been getting much done this week.

I’ve all but given up on my ADD meds. I had high hopes, but they have little to no effect now that I’ve been on them a while. I thought maybe just popping one when I needed it the most might be the answer, but it’s gotten to the point that taking a break from them doesn’t even help. At best, taking them helps me stay awake all day. At worst, I’m my usual, perpetually spacey, dozy self.

At any rate, I’ve got to get my butt back on track. I think doing something outdoors with Pumpkin might help clear my head and put me in better spirits, but so far that has been impossible. It rained the first two days of her break, and today it’s too chilly to play outdoors. Maybe the next couple of days will be better. I hope so, because we could both use a fun and relaxing outing.

If you’re familiar with the name Peter Walsh, you know that he’s this major organization guru. He’s been on Clean Sweep and Oprah, and he has written several books geared toward the organizationally challenged (like myself). So when I was invited to try out samples from his new line of office supplies from OfficeMax and get in on a sneak preview webcast about them, I was stoked.

The Products

I got my goodies last week. They included Peter’s [IN]PLACE System Organization Kit (see the photo below), as well as some very cool stuff from other OfficeMax brands. And I just love it all!

There are a few things, though, that I’m just absolutely drooling over. Here’s a summary:

• The components of the [IN]PLACE System are made of clear plastic. To me, this is truly a stroke of genius. It makes it easy to see what’s in them at a glance, without having to dig through everything. And they’re nice and durable, so you don’t have to worry about them tearing like most file folders and such.
• The file tote is awesome! So simple, yet so functional. It can hold all of the folders, document sleeves and document envelopes, and much, much more. And it has retractable handles, making storage so much easier.
• The erasable marker just completely blew my mind. Before you go thinking I’m easily amused, allow me to explain. It’s not your average erasable marker. It’s permanent. That means it won’t smudge when you write on the plastic stuff. And yet you can still erase it using the other end of the marker. This simple little innovation makes it possible to use those durable folders over and over and over and… you get the idea.
• The clip tabs are so much easier to use than your usual folder tabs. There’s no wrestling with tiny pieces of paper and counting slots for correct placement. You can simply write on them with the marker and clip them wherever you like. Such a time saver!
• The stuff from OfficeMax’s DiVoga line is functional and beautiful. It turns the notion of office supplies being boring on its head! There are brightly colored and patterned folders, stylish journals, funky paper clips and more.

The Webcast

The bad news is that I faced a deluge of interruptions during the webcast. I thought I would be home alone with ample peace and quiet when it aired, but boy, was I wrong. Hubbs got rained out of work, and Pumpkin had to leave school early because she was sick. Hubbs was gone but just had to call while I was watching, and Pumpkin decided she had to have a snack (and some extra attention). Oh, and our former neighbor who calls once in a blue moon decided to call and talk my ear off right before it started. Must learn to turn the phone off during such occasions. Daughter always comes first, but I suppose I could have offered snacks beforehand and made it more clear that I was busy.

But despite all of that, I managed to watch most of it live. And the little bit I missed I caught this evening, because they were thoughtful enough to record it. And I learned a few things.

The first thing that hit home for me was Peter’s rule that when you can’t see a flat surface, you need to take action. Common sense, I know, but I’m the world’s worst for losing my desk. It seems to disappear for weeks at a time, and when I finally find it, it manages to hide again within a few days.

He also pointed out that his Post-It wallet was great for labeling files. It comes with several different colors of notes, and they’re the “Super Sticky” kind so you don’t have to worry about losing them. That makes color coding ridiculously easy without having to spring for folders in every shade of the rainbow.

Final Thoughts

One thing I didn’t get and am dying for is the desktop sorter. It’s stepped to make everything nice and visible, and you can add and remove dividers to accommodate files of any size. If I had one of those, maybe I could finally get my bills organized.

Most of my work files are on my computer, so for now I’ll probably be using the system for bills and other home stuff. But I can definitely see it coming in handy when I start getting new clients and working on new projects for myself. Clutter is not good for my ADD, so maybe it will even help me become more productive. At least I know that I can easily switch everything back and forth between home and work to suit my needs. And that makes me (and my wallet) very, very happy.

Guess what I just did? Give up? Well, I’ll tell you. I just finished watching a sneak preview presentation of Peter Walsh’s new [IN]PLACE organization system, which debuts at OfficeMax next week. Yes, I’m talking about Peter Walsh from Clean Sweep and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Cool, huh?

I’ve got to take the daughter to the doctor right this second, so all I’ll say for now is that it’s friggin’ awesome! But not to worry, I’ll be back with more details. If this stuff can help my disorganized butt, it’s something everybody needs to know about.

Wow, has it really been almost two weeks since my last post? Where has the time gone?

My little unplanned hiatus started out as an effort to get a couple of assignments done on time. There was about a week last month when I could not concentrate, no matter how hard I tried, and of course that really threw me off track. The deadlines got closer and closer, but I just couldn’t seem to make any headway. Luckily, a couple of days before they arrived, I had a huge burst of creative energy. I was still a day late on each of them, but the clients were understanding. And on the one I was feeling seriously insecure about, I did a good enough job to earn praise for it. Yay me!

Once all that was done, I decided that I needed a little time off. All of my March assignments were done, and I didn’t have anything due until mid-April. So I spent some time with Hubby and Pumpkin. And this week, I’ve been spending some time doing some spring cleaning. Unfortunately I haven’t been as energetic with that as I was with my writing, but I’ve made some progress. I still have a long way to go, though.

Now I need to try to get my head back in the game. I’m still going to be doing some spring cleaning, but I’m going to start working on the assignments I have, too. I also need to find some more work to do so we can keep our heads above water. But I’m hoping that this little break I took will help me regain focus and get more work done in less time. It can’t have hurt, because I truly needed it.

I’ve been reading about bartering in small business on a forum I belong to. The thought has crossed my mind before, but I never really explored the possibility. Until now.

I was hunting for a new theme for my blog the other day, and I found one in particular I liked. It had this awesome retro look and color scheme. But it looked more like a music blog than a diary/working from home blog. I kept searching, and found a couple more I liked reasonably well, but nothing to write home about. I uploaded the final candidates to my hosting account, then proceeded to try them out. The two that I liked best were broken, and I don’t know enough about WordPress themes to fix them.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks: Why not see about bartering for a custom theme? I can’t offer gold necklaces or diamond rings, but I would be quite willing to do some writing in exchange for a good theme.

So, are there any WordPress theme designers out there who would be interested in some good articles for a blog or website? Or perhaps a bio or special report? I know basic HTML and can write for SEO purposes. If you’re interested, drop me a line via the contact form.

I knew that I wanted to be my own boss from the time I was in middle or high school. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, though. It turned out that it was right under my nose the whole time. But I considered a number of different options before I figured that out.

For a while, I wanted to own a clothing boutique. I had a unique sense of style, but clothes I liked were not easy to find in the area where I grew up. I traveled to the nearest small city (about 45 minutes away) to buy most of my clothes, and even there I had to scour the racks to find things to suit my discriminating tastes. But I rarely left empty-handed.

You’d never know that today. Since I had Pumpkin and gained a lot of weight, I haven’t had the money to buy a lot of clothes. I still have my own style when I buy something for myself, but most of what I wear is hand-me-downs and whatever is cheap. Maybe I should have opened a boutique after all. But I don’t know if that would have made me happy.

I also considered opening up a franchise restaurant. I read extensively about it in entrepreneur magazines, and it seemed like an easy way to get started in business if you could come up with the initial investment. But unless you’re born into money or save up for many years, that’s easier said than done. Besides, once I thought about it, that didn’t really fit with my desire to be my own boss. I know I would have been the owner and gotten to hire, fire and oversee employees, but that’s not what attracted me to self-employment. And franchises come with their own rules and regulations, which franchisees must follow.

All I really wanted was to be a boss to myself. I’ve supervised others, but it’s not really my cup of tea. I can handle it just fine, but I don’t particularly like it. I just liked the idea of not having someone else looking over my shoulder all the time. I’ve had a couple of bosses that were pretty good about that, but I’d rather just be accountable to myself.

There are times when I could use some supervision, but I think I do alright considering. There’s definitely room for improvement, but I’m working on it.

So what does self-employment mean to you? Is it being The Boss, or having unlimited income potential, or is it simply being able to do your own thing with only clients to answer to? That’s an important question to ask yourself before you even consider starting a business.

I’ve always been fascinated with marketing. My mom told me that when I was a toddler and she was watching TV with me, I would doze off during the shows but wake up as soon as I heard the jingles from the commercials. I’m one of those people who hates football but has often watched the Super Bowl just to see the commercials. I’m not easily persuaded to buy stuff, but I like to see how it’s being marketed.

I took marketing and advertising in college. I did quite well in both subjects. We had to set up an advertising campaign for our final project, and my professor liked mine so well that she gave me an A+ in spite of serious math errors in the budget section. Yet when it comes to marketing myself as a freelance writer, I don’t do very well.

I guess it’s because I don’t really like to toot my own horn. I ran across a website of another freelance writer the other day, and it was very nice and professional. I browsed around a bit, and thought she must get lots of clients. But when I looked at her published works page, I saw that she had much less experience than me. Two thoughts ran through my head: That it takes courage to present yourself that well when you’re first starting out, and that I needed to get my portfolio site started because I now knew that it wouldn’t be the least impressive one out there.

Maybe I could benefit from some sales training. Salespeople know how to exude confidence and persuade others to buy whatever they have to offer. But really, I guess I’ve got it in me if I can just let it shine through. For the first few jobs I actually got, I remember trying to think like someone who was really confident in her abilities. Obviously it worked, because I had no experience except for personal blogging, and I got them anyway.

Confidence hasn’t really been my strong point lately, though. I know I can write, but thanks to my lack of concentration, it has been slow going. And for some reason I’ve been more critical of myself than usual. I’ve got to work on both of those things so I can keep moving forward.

I’ve had my new computer for almost a week now, and so far I love it. It’s so liberating to not have to wait five minutes just to check my email. I had a bad week last week with my ADD, yet I still managed to get my work done on schedule. How awesome is that?

Now if I can just reign in my brain and stay focused, I should be able to get more work done in much, much less time. I knew my old machine was ridiculously slow, but I don’t think I fully grasped how slow until I started working on this one. I can actually write an article in a reasonable amount of time now. Part of it is because of the faster computer itself, and part of it is the fact that I can be more productive when I’m not mentally (and sometimes literally) screaming at the computer all the time.

Hubby still won’t let the fact that I bought a new one rest. He nearly went into fits when his friend told him that he had one he would have sold me for $20. But when I asked him about it, he said it had Windows 98 and needed a memory upgrade. If I wanted to go that route, I could have done so with my old computer. If I could upgrade the memory myself, I would have come out a little bit ahead by the time I bought Vista and some memory. But I can’t, so that really wouldn’t have made much sense. But try telling Hubby that.

He’ll get over it in time. If not, I just don’t really care any more.

As you probably know if you’re a regular reader, I have needed a new computer for a very long time. This one gets quirkier and less reliable every day. So I decided that if we got a decent tax refund this year, I was going to get one. If my computer dies, I can’t work, and if I can’t work, I can’t make any money.

Hubby has known this for months. He has also known that we desperately need to get caught up on the bills so we don’t have to worry so much, and buy some things we’ve needed for a long time but haven’t had the money to get. But when I got the taxes done, all he could think about was buying something he wants.

His argument? That I’m making something that I “want” top priority. As in my new computer. I’ve tried calmly explaining to him that I wouldn’t be so adamant about it if I didn’t need it for my livelihood. I’ve tried bringing up the fact that I bought him a 4-wheeler that he certainly didn’t need, not with my “share” of the tax money, but with money I worked my butt off for. And I’ve tried telling him to f*** off. But he’s still being a big baby over it.

Things always get hairy when we get our tax refund. Every year, it never fails, I want to put it toward things we need and maybe save some, and he wants to blow it. So far we’ve always divided it down the middle and used our halves as we saw fit. But if we do that this year, I’ll be buying a computer and using the rest of mine to pay some on the bills without making much progress. And he will waste his half. We can’t afford to do things that way.

It’s not like I want to use all of the money to go on one of those wild weekend getaways without him. I just want to be able to do my work without sitting around waiting on my computer to cooperate half the day, and without having to worry about losing the articles I’m working on (yes, that has happened a couple of times). I have every intention of making sure he has some money to spend after doing that and paying the bills. But he just wants to be a big baby about it.

Am I being unreasonable? I know a properly functioning computer is not too much to ask, especially when it’s what enables me to help pay the bills. And as far as the bills go, I think I should be able to get them caught up without any static. After all, I’m the one who has to juggle them constantly. He might earn the money to pay a good portion of them, but if I didn’t send it in, they wouldn’t get paid.

I hate being in charge of the finances. It’s a completely thankless job, and one that I’m not particularly good at, but I do my best.