I’m not the world’s greatest networker. I love hearing people’s stories and asking about their work, but I habitually forget to carry business cards and I’m not very good at explaining what I do. I do, however, accept business cards when they’re given to me. In the past, I’ve wondered if that was a futile activity, but I’ve discovered an app that promises to make collecting cards more useful.
Read the rest of this entry

I’m pretty sure my life would be easier if I didn’t have kids. The sacrifices I made would mostly be mine and mostly for my own advantage, not because of a promise I’d made to one of the kids or hopes I had for their future. Without children, I’d have one less (or in my case two) distraction from reaching my goals. Traveling would be less expensive, and it’d be easier to focus on writing if I only had myself to feed.

At the same time, I suspect my life may also be easier if I chose to be a stay-at-home mom. I’m not saying all SAHMs have it easier than working mothers, but I think sometimes that my life would be simpler if I didn’t have my work to distract me from keeping house and enjoying my kids.

And yet, I am so grateful and thrilled that I get to have both of those “distractions” in my life.
Read the rest of this entry

I woke up Sunday morning with a headache and a runny nose. So, I did the responsible thing and resolved to take very good care of myself. I took medicine, sucked down several cans of chicken-noodle soup, drank gallons of orange juice, and slept a lot. The next morning, I woke up to the startling realization that a) I was still sick and b) I had absolutely no back-up plan in place.

I had a phone meeting scheduled for 11am and two articles due.

I was, technically speaking, kind of screwed.
Read the rest of this entry

The first decision I made as a mother was to drop out of college and get a job so that I could offer my child a better financial future. Not only was that decision short-sighted (and financially unwise), but it set me on a path that I see many working parents walking: our primary purpose when we’re outside of the home is to improve life in the home.

When we read about work-life balance, we discover tips for how to be good parents and wives while also managing a work schedule. Our days and our Pinterest boards are divided between home and work – be crafty, organized, and nurturing or productive and successful. What’s missing from these pictures is a frivolous pursuit that has nothing to do with home or money making: a hobby.
Read the rest of this entry

I just returned from a 5-day trip to Orlando with my teenager, a trip I have been looking forward to since the moment he agreed to travel with me. It was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. We spent five blissful days communicating, hanging out, playing together, and not fighting. He talked to me, he laughed at my jokes, and he shared things with me - all activities that have been missing from our relationship since the onset of puberty.

In part, I have VisitOrlando, the Nickelodeon Suites Resort, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld to thank for this experience. They organized the trip and picked up the tab for most of our visit. They let my son and I share the magic of Harry Potter World, a real treat since we’d read the books together years ago. They provided the pool that he asked me to swim with him in, the rides we loved, and the shows we swapped opinions about.

But the real credit for this fabulous vacation goes to me and Devin - and the power of one-on-one parenting.
Read the rest of this entry

Fatigue is my nemesis. It’s the the most prominent side effect of my depression and my body’s go-to coping response for stress, illness, and just about everything else - including a long day at work. But I have big plans for myself and a lot of work to make those plans happen. So, I have to find a way to battle through the mid-day slumps, recharge, and get back to it. (And because I’m a weenie and would never sleep at night, another cup of coffee isn’t an option.)

These are a few tricks I’ve found to get over the natural lulls in my workday, downswings which I’m learning are actually important signs.
Read the rest of this entry

I’m a proponent of learning new skills. I believe the sense of accomplishment are worth the frustration and time invested. Doing things that are difficult can, eventually, make you happier. But, I’m also starting to learn that paying someone to do hard stuff for me can make me pretty darn happy as well.

After seven years of running my own blog, I recently received an email from my web host letting me know that my site was no longer eligible for a shared server. It was “using too many resources”, an explanation that still doesn’t make sense to me, and I was to be “upgraded” to a virtual server that would cost five times my current monthly rate. I logged into my admin panel, took a look at graph bars that purported to be monitoring my resources, and promptly realized I was in over my head.
Read the rest of this entry

I start my days as a mother. The drill is a familiar one to most mothers: make wake up call, encourage teeth and hair brushing, check children’s clothes for obvious stains or tears, check backpack for homework and papers that should have been signed the night before, slobber kids with hugs and kisses as they run out the door. My goal is to help my kids begin their day on the right foot, well loved and appropriately dressed. What happens next determines how prepared I’ll be for my own day.
Read the rest of this entry

Successful people often talk or write about the power of their routines. They meditate in the morning or begin their day with a workout. They make time for self care and know precisely when they are most creative and productive. While I see the wisdom in these bits of advice, I can’t help but wonder when these superhumans were able to willfully craft a schedule.
Read the rest of this entry

When I signed on four years ago to write this column, my intent was to discuss the constant quest for a work-life balance. I imagined sharing my best productivity tips as well as commiserating about the days when those tips inevitably failed. Over time, I also began sharing how my definitions of "work" and "life" were evolving . But while the balls changed in shape and color, the desire to keep them aloft always remained. Recently, however, I’ve begun to question my understanding of balance itself.
Read the rest of this entry