Living The Dream
I used to dream about how great it would be to work at home, but never realized half of the wonderful advantages it would present. If I simply worked from home for an employer, I doubt the experience would be quite the same. Working for myself, or rather for my family, puts this chapter of my life into perspective. My dream didn’t begin with amassing great wealth, it began as a deep desire to redeem the time I was losing each day with my family.
Usually waking before dawn, while my wife and children were still in bed, I prepared myself to spend at least 12 hours away from them, before returning home. Expecting at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep, meant I couldn’t expect to spend more than 4 or 5 hours with my family. For my youngest I barely had two solid hours before their bedtime.
It often felt like I spent the better part of my life moving back and forth between home and a job trying to be resourceful with my time on the road. Listening to books on tape, listening to training materials or speaking to my family on my cell phone were all great ways to breakup the monotony of commuting, but did nothing to resolve the inner conflict of sacrificing my time to provide for my family.
In a way it was ironic to be sacrificing my time, for the money necessary, to support a family I hardly ever saw. What made it worse was knowing that they didn’t care about how much money I made if it meant they didn’t get to see me. I was always able to make more money, but I could never make more time. In fact the harder I worked to make money, the more time I lost.
Peak Production During Business Hours
Within a few days of working from home I came to understand a very balanced and natural phenomenon at work in this environment. During the peak production hours of the day everyone was working and with minimal disturbances. My wife, bless her, is probably hard at work even now, but she handles specific jobs during the peak production hours. The older girls are home schooled and for the most part independent. They accomplish their academic requirements when their minds are most naturally focused. Even the youngest is lost in a world of playful imagination with her toys, playing her little heart out.
We experience occasional pandemonium but that’s to be expected in life. Someone once said, ‘A life worth living, should also be worth a few good stories after the fact.’
I don’t enjoy the distractions when they come, and I’ve been told that I tend to be very vociferous on those occasions, but I can’t justify saying I love working from home, if I’m not willing to shoulder the burden that home involves. The truth is I’m more productive in this environment than anywhere else I’ve worked in my life. Besides, I’ve never worked in any environment that didn’t have distractions. However, I’ve worked in plenty of places that were rife with pandemonium.
My oldest daughter used to love talking on the phone with me when I was at work. She didn’t have much choice in the matter as I’ve already explained. Hearing her voice did something to me; it made me miss her.
Now, when my youngest daughter calls me during working hours, I simply twist my head and behold her precious little smile. Most of the time she doesn’t have anything to say. She just likes to sit in my lap and ask a lot of questions. Sometimes I’ll even have to take a break to give her my undivided attention. I record that in my journal as a business meeting. After all, I work for her.
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