Sometimes customers suck.

I’m aware.  I accept it.  I’ve worked in sales for years and have had enough direct client interaction to know that people behave very strangely when they are considering spending money.  It’s just the way it is.

But there is one particular thing that potential customers do that I still can’t wrap my head around after all these years.  It’s the one “objection” that I’ve yet to come up with an answer for.

About once a month I have someone call me to explain that they really, really, really need my company’s services.  They go on to tell me that they wholeheartedly believe that I can provide them with the exact solution they’ve been looking for.

They’ve called to tell me that they really want to buy what I’m selling.

And they can’t afford it.

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In October, I took an advanced 2-day course on Effective Meeting Management.  In the first hour of the course, the instructor gave some shocking statistics:

• 91% of people are mentally distracted during a meeting
• 96% have intentionally missed all or part of a meeting
• 73% do other work while attending a meeting
• 39% sleep!

While the rest of the course was your typical meeting class filled with agendas, value messaging, asking probing questions to keep your participants engaged, and dealing with those difficult people who seem to think it’s their job to constantly ruffle your feathers, I learned everything I needed to with those statistics.

We are over scheduled with too many meetings that provide too little value.
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As a rule, I do not multi task.  I do one thing and I do it well.  I do it until it’s done, and then I move on to the next thing.

This works great for me.  I get into The Flow on a regular basis and I’m able to stay focused on what’s right in front of me, no matter how long my to do list is.  I’m productive and efficient when I’m doing one thing at a time.

Unfortunately, doing one thing at a time doesn’t seem to be an option at the moment, and I’m struggling to figure out how to avoid getting overwhelmed from moment to moment.

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As working parents, we talk a lot about work/life balance.

We discuss ways to get the most out of our family time.  We make decisions about things we’ll give up and things we’ll learn to live with.  We talk to each other about taking better care of ourselves so that we’ll be better equipped to handle all of life’s demands and responsibilities.

But the comments on a recent post at the Work It, Mom blog made me stop and think.

Is the answer to finding a better work/life balance simply to work less?

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My spouse called me from his office on Monday to tell me to arrange for a sitter (aka Grandpa) to watch our son on Thursday night.  He was just invited to a wine tasting event where some of his company’s executives would be attending.  I could tell that he was excited at the opportunity and anxious that his individual contributor title would interfere in networking with Senior Directors and Vice Presidents.  While one of my strengths is being able to work a room and make lots of small talk, my spouse is more likely to find one person and hold ‘em hostage for all night talking about the same topic.  I made the arrangements, put on a new dress, and was prepared to play the role of the supportive wife.

Last night, we showed up at a local hotel to mingle with influential people in his company.  Imagine our surprise when we walked into a charity event with a live auction, silent auction, and goal of raising more than ten thousand dollars for the cause. I turned to my spouse and whispered “Awkward.”

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I’ve been learning about the importance of expectations in marriage counseling.  Specifically, I’ve been learning about how important it is to make your expectations known, clearly, if you have any hope of them being met.

What, if anything, does this have to do with women who work full time?

I’m starting to learn that expectations and boundaries go hand in hand, and that boundaries are crucial for a good work/life balance.

I do a lot of my work from home.  I work a full time job from my home several days a week and juggle several part time and freelance writing jobs that are done at home on nights and weekends.  As I’ve mentioned before, almost all of my work is done on my laptop.

When I’m working, I need to concentrate.  I need to, to a certain extent, be left alone so that I can work.  During the week, when the rest of my family is at work or school, this is not a problem.  However, if I’m working at night or on a weekend morning - something my husband understands and is supportive of - the “being left alone” part gets a little tricky.

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