Cornered Office
with Mir Kamin
I'm a freelance writer and mother of two working from home, which theoretically means I can set my own schedule so as to best accommodate my family. In reality, "flexible hours" often equals "working too much." Yes, I'm my own boss; no, that doesn't mean life is easy. It's hard to leave the office when you live there. But I love what I do and feel very lucky. And not just because I get paid to work in my pajamas.
To learn more about Mir, check out her profile on Work It, Mom! or visit her blog at http://www.wouldashoulda.com/
Several of my clients like to have me available by Instant Messenger during the day, and I’m happy to oblige. It gets a bit isolating, you know, to work from home all by myself. I’m not complaining, but at least if I’ve got my Instant Messenger on I’m likely to have a few chats during the day to keep me from feeling like I’m living and working in a cave.
The problem, of course, is that not all chats are work-related and most of them are a distraction. Sure, I can tell myself that it’s a work thing, but the reality does not bear out the fantasy in this case.
And so in the interest of full disclosure, I present… More Or Less Actual IM Exchanges Only Modified To Protect The Guilty Which I Had Yesterday While I Was Sort Of Working:
With another freelancing friend, because we professionals have to stick together:
Me: Are you Atlanta today?
Her: no, for a change!!
Her: i’ve been there every day for… um… days.
Me: ha
Her: and it is very nice to be home.
Me: ah, well good. If you’re gonna freelance you should reap the benefits
Her: yeah. like, when i am there? i totally have to wear pants.
Her: suck.
Me: That’s just wrong.
Me: I myself have not bothered getting dressed today yet.
With my husband, because we are all about discussing the important things:
Him: Hey, it’s hot out …
Me: indeed
Him: Hrmpf
Me: ’smatter?
Him: They spiked the price of a Coke by 25% upstairs.
Me: have to start bringing your own
Him: Gonna need to find a small fridge. Bah.
Him: Blech
Him: It’s not even cold …
Him: Grumblegrumblegrumble
Me: poor baby
Him: Thanks for the sympathy.
Me: you’re welcome
With another freelancing friend:
Me: what shall I write about for Cornered Office?
Me: I’m trying to decide
Her: hmmmm
Her: the procrastination trap?
Me: hahaha
Her: everything you do INSTEAD of work
That was a good idea she had, except that I am always right on task so it was hard to come up with anything. Ahem.
Now if you’ll excuse me, my pants seem to be on fire. I should probably go put them out.
Subscribe to blog via RSS
Hey! I have IM exchanges like that ALL THE TIME! Does that mean *I* could be a writer, too??
MaryP | August 23rd, 2007 at 9:40 am
IM can be SO INTRUSIVE!
I usually keep it shut off and when it is on (I use Yahoo) I only show myself as “available” to people that I am actually open to chatting with.
We also have an in-house chat tool tied to our email client at the office. Sometimes I shut that off also. If people want to talk to me they can get off their pockets and come find me.
KathyHowe | August 23rd, 2007 at 12:58 pm
“Get off their pockets.” Never heard that one before, but I think I’m going to use it soon as I get the chance!
MaryP | August 24th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Ah, I will miss my IM functions when I go back to school later this week. School building email just isn’t the same. Well, mos tof the time.
Daisy | August 26th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
[...] (Oh, I don’t know what they did. I was too busy configuring this. Now when I’m wasting time while I should be working, I have a little green duck that flaps his wings on my screen to alert me [...]
Work It, Mom! | A Community for Professional Moms | September 6th, 2007 at 9:50 am