Dana Grant
October 25th, 2010, 07:42 PM
Today has been a most unusual day.......
Normally, my days go pretty smoothly -- not too many interruptions. I get to work at about 6 a.m. and end my day around 1 p.m. on most days.
One of the challenges of working at home is the fact that many people don't think you really WORK. In the early years (I started my business in 1989), I had moms who worked outside the home to call me and ask if I could go pick up their sick child from school or daycare. Or "could you babysit my kids tomorrow?" for some reason or another.....or a neighbor would ask "could you take me to the doctor" or something. It took a little while, but slowly people started coming around to believe the fact that yes, I did, indeed, WORK and RUN a business from my HOME during certain hours of the day........
So....for the past few years, the interruptions have been few, and I can deal with that.
TODAY, however -- OH MY GOODNESS!!!! The first interruption was actually a client -- calling to complain about a physician who gives us constant trouble. It was their own work that they were interrupting, so I didn't feel too terrible about that one.
Almost immediately after that first call was a call from someone whom I barely know -- calling me to ask me questions about teenagers and how to get her boys to get along with one another and how did I handle it when my kids wanted to spend most of their free time in their rooms......well, you get the drift. She talked to me for at least 90 minutes. I know, my own fault. I just couldn't bear to leave the conversation with her having so much trouble.
After settling in to my desk and getting work started --- THE DOOR BELL RANG!!! Oh my word!! It was my neighbor from down the street -- I haven't really spoken with her at any length for a couple of years!!! She saw the storage pod in the front of our house and just had to ask to see the renovations......so I took her on a tour of our "construction zone" house and talked to her for a little while.
I got about 30 minutes of work completed, and lo and behold -- another phone call. My friend who is president of the Celiac Disease association was calling.....I talk to her about once a year, maybe, and of course, today had to be that day, I suppose. Not only did we talk about celiac disease and its relation to heart disease, but she wanted to know all about my photography.......
After she called, my husband called to tell me he was on his way home from work. I just had to laugh.....he asked if I had a difficult day -- I told him, "well, it has actually been a nice day to catch up with old friends!!! But I got almost NO work done!!!" So, tonight while he's working on the house, I'm going to BARRICADE myself in my office and WORK for a few hours so the day won't be a total loss as far as work is concerned!!!
Why am I writing this post? Oh, I don't know. I just felt the need to vent a little. I'm not angry or anything -- I COULD have cut all those people off. But today I did a lot of listening. Maybe they needed it. Who knows.
If you are ever thinking about starting a business and keeping your office at home.....well.....
(edit: I didn't even mention the other interruptions.......my daily call from the contractor, talking to Tyler about plane reservations for our family trip in November......the list goes on and on.......it was quite interesting today!!! ha ha)
Normally, my days go pretty smoothly -- not too many interruptions. I get to work at about 6 a.m. and end my day around 1 p.m. on most days.
One of the challenges of working at home is the fact that many people don't think you really WORK. In the early years (I started my business in 1989), I had moms who worked outside the home to call me and ask if I could go pick up their sick child from school or daycare. Or "could you babysit my kids tomorrow?" for some reason or another.....or a neighbor would ask "could you take me to the doctor" or something. It took a little while, but slowly people started coming around to believe the fact that yes, I did, indeed, WORK and RUN a business from my HOME during certain hours of the day........
So....for the past few years, the interruptions have been few, and I can deal with that.
TODAY, however -- OH MY GOODNESS!!!! The first interruption was actually a client -- calling to complain about a physician who gives us constant trouble. It was their own work that they were interrupting, so I didn't feel too terrible about that one.
Almost immediately after that first call was a call from someone whom I barely know -- calling me to ask me questions about teenagers and how to get her boys to get along with one another and how did I handle it when my kids wanted to spend most of their free time in their rooms......well, you get the drift. She talked to me for at least 90 minutes. I know, my own fault. I just couldn't bear to leave the conversation with her having so much trouble.
After settling in to my desk and getting work started --- THE DOOR BELL RANG!!! Oh my word!! It was my neighbor from down the street -- I haven't really spoken with her at any length for a couple of years!!! She saw the storage pod in the front of our house and just had to ask to see the renovations......so I took her on a tour of our "construction zone" house and talked to her for a little while.
I got about 30 minutes of work completed, and lo and behold -- another phone call. My friend who is president of the Celiac Disease association was calling.....I talk to her about once a year, maybe, and of course, today had to be that day, I suppose. Not only did we talk about celiac disease and its relation to heart disease, but she wanted to know all about my photography.......
After she called, my husband called to tell me he was on his way home from work. I just had to laugh.....he asked if I had a difficult day -- I told him, "well, it has actually been a nice day to catch up with old friends!!! But I got almost NO work done!!!" So, tonight while he's working on the house, I'm going to BARRICADE myself in my office and WORK for a few hours so the day won't be a total loss as far as work is concerned!!!
Why am I writing this post? Oh, I don't know. I just felt the need to vent a little. I'm not angry or anything -- I COULD have cut all those people off. But today I did a lot of listening. Maybe they needed it. Who knows.
If you are ever thinking about starting a business and keeping your office at home.....well.....
(edit: I didn't even mention the other interruptions.......my daily call from the contractor, talking to Tyler about plane reservations for our family trip in November......the list goes on and on.......it was quite interesting today!!! ha ha)