I Think I Need Office Hours

Being a stay at home mom, one might think that I have plenty of time to keep up on computer and office stuff, but I always seem to be behind!  I’m considering implementing office hours. 

Some of the many office tasks that I am behind on right now are: loading pictures from my camera to the computer and organizing them, paying bills, working on our budget each month, writing and correspondence for the various committees I volunteer on, writing actual letters to friends and family, looking up craft and activity ideas to do with my kids, researching some potential purchases we’d like to make, and blog posts.  I have a whole sheet of post ideas!  But all of these things require that I can sit down at the computer and focus on the task at hand.  It seems so hard to carve out that time during the day!!

It’s been a crazy busy week with activities around here, and I am behind in many other tasks too!  It’s gotten me thinking…maybe I need to implement office hours?  If I decided a certain time window each week that would work for me, I could have Shawn do special Daddy activities with the kids and set my brain to office stuff.  When people ask me about a good time to call to discuss certain committee things, I could actually have an answer! “ I sit and deal with schedules and office tasks Tuesday nights, why not call me then, and I’ll be able to discuss that with you.”  Or maybe I could chose a time window that works during almost every day, and people could phone me then if they wanted to chat, then I wouldn’t have to feel obligated to answer the phone all day!  I do just let it ring a lot, my thought tends to be “ that’s what I have an answering system for”.  But, if I had office hours, I wouldn’t have to feel as guilty about it!

What would I do with my office hours?  Type a lot, I think.  Research ideas too.  It would ease my feelings of being so far behind!  Instead of that email that requires a reply nagging at me, I would be able to know that I plan on answering it next “office hours”.  Maybe I wouldn’t be so distracted during the day!    Having set hours would keep me from being distracted while I am doing things with the kids, thinking about what all I need to get done.  The computer in the kitchen makes it so tempting to “just quickly check email”, or “just take a sec to write this note”.  Still thinking about taking the computer out of the kitchen.

Hmmm, maybe I do need office hours.  Right now, as I try to make the time to write this post, my family has gotten sick of waiting for me and have started eating dinner without me.

Maybe I should close up Mama’s Office and sign off…