Full Time, All the Time
with Britt and Robyn
I'm Britt. I work full time as a mom, wife, blogger and salesperson with a fancy management title. And I'm Robyn. I work as a project manager and between corporate meetings manage to cook a home-made meal every day. This blog is about our experiences of juggling full-time work with family.
Check out our personal blogs:
Miss Britt and Who's the Boss?
I work full time (she says on a blog called Full Time, All the Time). I also have two permanent freelance writing jobs and run two websites of my own. And I’m trying to write a book.
Oh, and I’m a wife and mother of two.
On paper, that doesn’t look like much. It only takes up about two inches of my computer screen, but the hours it takes to fill those few inches of commitment can be overwhelming. Like every single working mother I know, I constantly find myself with too much to do and not enough time to do it.
In the past, I’ve used my weekends to get more done. I’ve written on Saturdays and answered work emails on Sundays. I’ve spent the time between Friday night and Monday morning playing catch up so that I can start all over again each week at barely even.
I think that may just be the surest way to a breakdown. And possibly divorce. And also, just maybe, my children on a therapist’s couch in the distant future lamenting the fact that Mom was always busy.
And so, in the interest of my sanity and my family’s well being, I’ve decided to take back my weekends.
I’ve officially declared the weekend in my house to be a work free zone.
Of course, grand declarations do not meet deadlines. Proclamations do not write articles or answer phone calls or finish queries. They do, however, do wonders for priorites and time management.
In order to make sure that my weekends are family friendly, I’ve had to make sure I’m more focused and productive during the week. Sometimes that means firing up the laptop after the kids have gone to bed and working well into primetime TV hours. It definitely means staying on top of my to-do lists and breaking my procrastination habit.
But most of all, it means being willing to let some things go until Monday. And, yes, Mondays are as busy as ever.
What I’m getting in exchange for busy Mondays and late weeknights is quality time with my kids on a regular, predictable basis. I’m teaching them how to bait a hook and hold their breath underwater. I’m sitting on the couch underneath a pile of little limbs and watching Disney movies, without getting up to see what I’m missing on the computer.
I hope what they’re getting is a lesson in priorities and balance.
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Well done, you.
I promise that after awhile the twitching will stop. You might even be able to walk by the computer without the urge to turn it on eventually.
Finn | May 20th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Finn - you know YOU were the one who inspired me to do this.
Miss Britt | May 20th, 2009 at 8:40 am
This is great info for everyone. Glad you posted this. I am subscribing to this blog. Mason
knurled grab bars | May 21st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Thanks for the post and good for you! Family time is so important! I’ve been writing a little bit about that on my blog too. I would like to take the weekends a step further and also declare them to be “unplugged”, well, at least part of the time, if possible. No TV (there’s nothing on anyway), get away from the computer, and turn off the cell phone during time with family…let voice mail handle it, that’s what it was made for. Family is much more important and you can’t get back time you’ve lost with them.
Lisa Paige Shuttlesworth | May 21st, 2009 at 3:42 am
Hooray! I’m trying to do this more and more too. It’s easier to ignore my laptop when I’m outside and can’t see it. : )
Phe | May 21st, 2009 at 7:50 am
I wrote ablog similar to this as well. Since then, I haven’t worked anymore weekends. It’s great, isn’t it?
Oceans Mom | May 21st, 2009 at 11:09 am
Great blog post about an important topic! And good for you!
I think there is an epidemic occurring of moms trying to “do it all” by working whenever they can squeeze in the time. We try to catch a few minutes here and there. We have the devices to be tuned into work at all times. Yes, it’s great that these days we can do some form of our work from just about anywhere, but it’s also come at the detriment of us having big pockets of time (like the weekends) not focused on work.
I have implemented this myself and have clients successfully implementing NO WORK & TECHNOLOGY-FREE days. If trying to do it the entire weekend feels too challenging at first, start with dedicating just one day a week to this. NO WORK days mean that you may think about work, but you will not DO anything related to work (no computer time, no email, no phone calls, etc.). I suggest you take it a step further and unplug from those technology devices for a day all-together. It may feel uncomfortable, but see how you feel at the end of the day when you’ve given that time and attention to the physical relationships in front of you (with your kids, spouse, yourself, friends close by).
We have to break the habit of being tuned in to work all the time. We have to break the habit of always trying to catch a few minutes here and a few minutes there. We have to break the habit of always checking email, our Blackberry, Twitter, etc. The best way to break an old “bad” habit is to set an intention around your new habit, create the boundaries and structure to support the new habit, enlist support (tell your husband and kids about your new plans and I bet they will help remind you!) and stick with it consistently for a good 2 weeks before you determine whether it’s working, not working or needs to be adjusted.
Nicola Ries Taggart - The Executive Moms Coach | May 21st, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I once attended a time management workshop where the instructor said that, at the end of teach day, the average worker leaves 30 hours of unfinished work on his/her desk.
No matter how you try to get it all done, you just can’t. There will always be more work.
I found comfort in knowing that. So now, I get as much done as I can within my comfort zone of 45 hours a week. During project deadlines, I will increase that comfort zone to 60. But this way, I know that I am getting done what I can get done.
I don’t think that most bosses expect their staff to work over 50 hrs on a regular basis. I think we employees just give it up willingly. And you are so right about being more focused during the work hours. When I paid attention to how much time some of my co-workers spend in the breakroom or chatting about American Idol, I realized that my 45 hours of work was really 45 hours. Their 60 hours was probably more like 30.
robynroark | May 22nd, 2009 at 10:07 am