I promised to let you know what the results were regarding how much leisure time I’m spending on the internet. Every time I paused in the midst of work, or spent time in my off hours surfing the internet, I timed it. My results weren’t exactly accurate, because I’d get up to do something else and leave the timer running for an two hours, or press “stop” instead of pause, and erase time accrued, but! As near as I can tell I spend about 2.5 hours a day on the net for leisure. Not too bad ( I can partially justify it because I so rarely watch TV), but not great either.

But I realized this week, it’s not just me. As a family, we spend more time with technology than we do with each other. Or at least that’s how it feels sometimes. If I’m not on the computer, my kids are. Or Aaron’s working on his laptop. If the kids aren’t watching TV, then Aaron is. And if it’s not the TV or the computer, it’s the iPod, or the Gameboy, ad infinitum. I don’t mean we spend all our time in front of something that requires electricity; we are a one-TV, one-computer family (excluding Aaron’s work laptop). We love to read, my kids have tons of friends in the neighborhood, but we do spend more time than is… optimal, I think.

Aaron and I were talking about it this weekend. As our kids get older they’re going to have more stuff to do and more places to go. That’s great, but I want to make sure we stay connected. So we decided that Saturday is going to technology free. I’ll try to plan a craft or something fun to do at home. We’ll read, play games, go sight seeing, and we’ll shut technology out for a day. Frankly, I don’t think it’s going to be very much fun for any of us in the beginning. It’s a discipline not to have instant information, instant communication, instant entertainment. But I do think that once we get used to it, we’ll really have fun together. I’ll let you know how it goes. I tend to start with a bang and end with a whimper, but even if it’s only a temporary thing I’m interested to see who I am, who we are, without HBO and AOL. At least for one day a week.

A while ago I wrote about my dilemma concerning Will not wanting to go to school full time. I ended up drastically reducing his school time, and now he goes to school three mornings a week. Two of those mornings I go to class, and one morning I volunteer in my daughers’ classes. Leaving me exactly zero minutes sans kid to get work done, or canvas for work. Needless to say, this isn’t what I imagined when I decided to freelance.

Next year he’ll be going to school half days, everyday, which doesn’t give me a whole heck of a lot more time to work on developing a client base, or to take all the money I’m making, spread out on the bed, and roll around in it, as I imagined I’d be doing in a year. Okay, maybe I’m a little more realistic than that, but I did think that I would have more than 9 freaking hours a week to devote to work, without hearing SpongBob in the background.

I don’t really know what to do. I’m sort of an all or nothing person, and it’s hard for me to say, sure, maybe I won’t have much time to devote to getting a business going this year, and maybe not much more time next year, but boy, come 2010, I’m all over it! I suppose I could think of it as a part time gig. There’s no shame in that, right? The reality is, that’s what it’s shaping up to be, no matter what delusions of grandeur I had in the beginning. When I first started out, I thought I’d start work right after the girls got on the bus at 7:00, and Aaron could get Will dressed and take him to school, so I’d have 7.5 beautiful, pristine, uninterrupted hours to work. I’d make 60 cold calls a week, heck, in a couple of years, I could be pulling in as much as my husband. Or not.

Maybe I need to look into hiring a mother’s helper. Can anyone give me any tips on websites or other resources I can use in finding some in home care? And how well does in home care really work, if mom is in the next room? Anyone, anyone? Bueller?

Yesterday as I sat banging my head working in front of the computer, my son and his friend from next door walked through the house.

“Will?” I heard her ask, “Why is your mom always in front of the computer now?”

“I don’t know, ” he replied. “She works on the computer now, so she always has to be on there. I don’t know what she does.”

“It’s weird, because now, whenever I come over, she’s always sitting there.”

Out of the mouths of babes. Read the rest of this entry »

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m tired of sitting on my butt. Yesterday I worked on a particularly arduous project. I sat down at the computer in the morning, took a couple of bathroom breaks, ate my lunch sitting at my desk, picked up my son from preschool, fixed my kids an after-school snack, and otherwise did not escape my chair until 5:30. When I taught school I rarely sat down, so this all sitting, all the time business is for the birds. (The birds stricken lame by polio. You know, those birds.)

I guess I need to schedule breaks, which is weird, because I’m all about the breaks, but when I’m working on a design I MUST sit there and compulsively tweak it, until it looks right. Yesterday, I didn’t think the design I was working on would be so uncooperative. I kept telling myself, just a few more minutes, and then I’ll go do something else. That happens more than I’d like.

One of the problems is that I like to spend my breaks in front of the computer, checking email, reading blogs, or Twittering. I’ve cut my blog reading, by about 95%. So I guess if I can break that habit, I can actually get up from the computer every once in a while. And do what, I’m not sure. Baton twirling? 2 minute yoga? I know! I’ll eat my lunch standing over the sink! Seriously though, my treadmill is three steps from my desk, I could walk for 4 minutes a few times a day. I could also poke myself with something sharp, which is one step up from exercise, in my book. One thing I’ve been doing right is making myself exercise for 30 minutes everyday. I hate all 1800 seconds of it, but I do it, and I can tell it’s doing some good.

Another problem is that my posture is horrible. That woman up there? That’s exactly how I sit. Only my eyes are open– most of the time. Part of it’s not my fault, because I’m super short (so short cropped pants are regular length on me) so I can’t lean back in my chair, but I guess I could exert the effort to walk over to my couch and get a pillow to support my back. Ppfft, whatever. I keep hearing about RSI, and I guess it’s something I need to pay attention to. I read a recommendation for Workrave, a free ap that “alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks and restricts you to your daily limit.” It just seems so counterintuitive to have my computer tell me to stop working, but I may give it a try. And I probably need to have my mother phone me a few times a day, and tell me not to slouch.

Thanks for all the kind comments last week! I pulled it together, made it through, and I’m back in the groove this week.

Today is Blog Action Day, so I thought I’d talk about going green at the office. There are some fabulous companies out there who go beyond what’s required of them, and corporations can implement many eco-friendly ways and means, but what can we do this week, right now, to go green at work? These suggestions aren’t new, but not everyone is practicing them. I’ve worked places where there was a paper tidal wave, and no recycle bin. I hope your office fares better.

Let’s start in the breakroom. Buy a sugar cannister, and re-useable cups and spoons, or switch to cups that are biodegradable. According to Tree Hugger, “…in 2005, Americans used and discarded 14.4 billion disposable paper cups for hot beverages. If put end-to-end, those cups would circle the earth 55 times. Based on anticipated growth of specialty coffees, that number will grow to 23 billion by 2010—enough to circle the globe 88 times.” Wow, maybe we should give Starbucks a call, and ask them to switch too. What an impact that would make!

And what about what we put in those cups? Buying fair trade coffee and teas not only helps the communities that grow them, but also helps the environment. Fair Trade farmers generally aren’t clearing forests, or using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They don’t have the capital, first of all, and secondly they’re generally very concerned about the environment, since they have a much more cause/effect relationship with the earth than we do. Not only that, but companies like Green Mountain Coffee and Newman’s Own have a track record of helping coffee-growing areas hard hit by natural disasters.

Paper and printer cartridges are two items that can have a huge impact on the environment. Do you use the front and back of paper, when you can? Do you use scrap paper, instead of buying those cute printed list pads, and notebooks (I’m a sucker for cute paper, so this is an area where I could stand some improvement). Is your office using recycled paper? 100% recycled? No, it’s not a quest for the holy grail, you can buy it at Staples, for corn sake. So even if no one else in your office switches, you can. I hope wherever you’re working you have a recycle bin. If not, just grab an empty box, and voila, you’re greener already. I admit, I don’t refill my own printer cartridges, but I do buy refurbished ones. I use ASAP, who I’m happy with (I’m also cheap, so there). In many areas you can donate your old cartridges to charity, earning you two gold stars.

And how about that pain in the neck otherwise known as carpooling. Yes, I know, you have to give up the comfort of your own car, and if your an introvert like me, you must suffer the ghastly practice of making conversation (makes me shudder just to think of it). Not to mention, you have to arrive and leave at the same time, so you give up some convenience. But come on, if you carpool just once a week, you’ve already reduced your emissions by 20%! Baby steps.

So there you have it, a few simple, easy (my two favorite words) ways to make the world a better place, and your kids’ world too.

I’m losing it. Work has been swamped because I keep taking jobs that require me to draw, and I. don’t. draw. I mean I can draw, if I want to make 10¢ an hour. So over the past few days instead of interacting with my kids, I’ve mostly been looking at them when they are regaling me with stories, while in my head, I’m thinking, “When are you going to stop talking so I can get back to work?!” Last night for dinner I fed my kids Dino Nuggets. That’s it, no broccoli, or salad, not even a limp piece of celery.

I was supposed to take two of my kids to the doctor yesterday, one for booster shots, the other for a check up; I missed the appointment. My husband needed to print a copy of his offer letter; we’re out of paper. I sent one of my daughters to school with her hair pulled up in a pony tail, because it’s greasy; I forgot it’s picture day. My house is right on the cusp between “manageably messy,” and “pig sty.” I have bills I need to pay, overdue library books that need to be returned, grocery shopping that needs to be done, ad infinitum.

Because I don’t have enough to do, I told my kids I’d take them to Amish country this weekend, and throw them a Halloween party weekend after next. Today I’m supposed to volunteer in one of my kids’ classes, and I’m so tempted to cancel. Except I’d feel compelled to lie and say my son was home sick, because I don’t think I can say, “Hey, I’m really off my game, and this is the only child-free morning I have this week, and I need to use it to pull my shit together.”

And how’s your week going?

Hi! And welcome back to Let’s Choose A Job, the game show that’s sweeping the nation! I’m your host Monty Hall, and here are the jobs!

Behind door #1 is a job with a stable, larger company where there would be opportunities to advance. They don’t work a lot of hours, and the benefits are terrific, as is so often true with large corporations. We’d be living in a great city. The downside: because of the cost of living in the new city, our standard of living wouldn’t improve, and might even have to come down a smidge.

Behind door #2 is a job with a small company, it would pay quite a bit more than we make now, and we could stay in our neighborhood, and oh, how I love and adore this neighborhood. The downside: they work more hours, expect faster turnaround time for prototypes, and the benefits aren’t quite as good.

Honestly, we’re very fortunate to be in a position to choose from these options. We’re in a very good position, and either job is going to be good, so there’s really no wrong choice. What it comes down to is the equation that’s going to bring the most job satisfaction to Aaron. Which got me to thinking about the equation of job satisfaction.

What criterion do you use to decide if a job is right for you? There are so many variables. Is it a larger paycheck, being challenged, or a friendly working environment? How important is loving what you do, and being good at it? (Aaron loves his work, they could pay him in T-shirts and pizza, and he’d be happy as a lark.) How do the number of hours you work impact your job satisfaction? Do you balk at having to put in extra time at the office? What about having autonomy, good corporate culture, a short commute? Free cookies? Come on that’s got to be in the top ten.

So tell me, what ranks high in your list of priorities for job satisfaction? And let’s play Let’s Choose A Job in the comments. Will you choose door #1, door #2, or the “mystery prize” behind door #3? (Psst, it’s litter of puppies, but keep it under your hat.)

(Edited to add: He took the job behind door #2. Whew, that was tough. I would’ve been happy either way, for different reasons. Right now, I’m just glad we’re through hashing it out six ways to Sunday!)

Aaron, my husband is looking for a new job. He has a few offers on the table right now, one of which is in our town, and the others are out of state. Changing jobs is hard, even though it’s not my job!

Aaron is a hardware-design engineer, and there’s not a lot of that type of industry in our area. In Aaron’s line of work, people don’t generally stay with a company more than 8 years, unless they’re planning on staying until retirement. I really don’t want to move, but it’s almost inevitable that we’re going to have to, it’s just a matter of when.

Financially we’re probably better off to stay here, if he can wrangle a commensurate salary. The out of state jobs include a moving allowance in their offer, but we’d have a second mortgage, deposits for a rental, the expenses of moving after we buy a home, and all those other costs I tend to forget about until my VISA bill is staring me in the face.

Plus we’ve only been here 3 years, in some ways I feel like I’m just getting settled. There is a certain kind of currency earned when you’re a part of a community. You have a reliable mechanic, doctors you know and like, you know your way around town, you have people you can call up for dinner, or trade baby sitting with. All that is worth a lot. Imagine “a lot” in 40pt red letters.

The advantage of moving is that the companies are larger, and more stable than the in-state offers. There’s more opportunity for growth, and a lot more industry in the area, so hopefully we could settle for good someplace. One major concern we have is the kids. Is it better to pull them out of an amazing neighborhood, with tons of kids, so our eldest child doesn’t have to make a move during middle school?

It’s so difficult to know what’s the best choice for our family’s future. How do you make decisions that effect your family?

This weekend I read an article about home-based business in the New York Times. Essentially the article encourages people who run home-based businesses to be transparent, and represent themselves accurately. If you run your business out of your kitchen, say so. If you’re self employed, don’t pretend you’re a “we” when you’re really an “I.” Pretending to be something your not isn’t going to gain you respect in any meaningful way, and may eventually backfire on you. (This is precisely why I don’t have “CEO” or some other title on my business card. I don’t need a title, it’s just me and my shadow running the show.)

But something tangential occurred to me as I read this article, and that is how “female” business has become. I’m a newcomer to the business world, and my expertise on feminism doesn’t extend much beyond a few Women Studies classes at Smith College, so I may not articulate this very well, but it seems to me that the win/lose, zero sum, black-and-white, either/or male model of business is a dying breed. It’s exciting to look around and see the transformation business is undergoing, and I think the much of the credit is largely due to women, or at least a more feminine way of looking at the world.

The article I referenced states that 50% of business are home based, and their earnings are half a trillion dollars. There are so many non-traditional business models: coworking, freelancing, web-based business, mompreneurs, and more. Within corporate business, flex-time, on site daycare, casual Friday, and yes even bringing pets to work, and the ubiquitous lava lamps, and large rubber balls, are changing the flavor of business.

And it’s not just business modes and methods, it’s our interaction with careers that have changed as well. According to the Labor Department, “the average person born in the later years of the baby boom held 10.5 jobs from age 18 to 40.” In 2006, the most recent year for which there are statistics, 54 million Americans, or 40 percent of the work force, left their jobs. If people aren’t changing jobs they’re likely to be specializing in different areas, or acquiring additional vocations– no one, it seems has only one job, every one is a lawyer/writer/life coach. The slash has become an indispensable mark of puncutation. Along with Americans changing jobs, or adding to the jobs they already have, there is (for better or for worse) the inevitable blurring of work and home life.

I can’t help but think (although my opinion isn’t based on any hard evidence) that these revolutionary changes in business are largely derived from the contributions and (though I hate to use such a woo-woo term) energy of women in the workplace. What do you think?