Home Work

People occasionally ask how I get anything done working at home with six children. My question is how anyone gets anything done in an office setting. I've spent enough time in offices to know how frequently other people roam in and out of your workspace, whether to ask a question, hand you a new task or comment on a recent ballgame. When I was employed with of a home office but occasionally visited the main office, my least productive days, almost without exception, were those I spent in the home office. Those days had distinctive virtue and were necessary to my job, but I sure didn't get as much of the day-to-day work done as I would during virtually any day at home -- and I sure remember all the destractions of a previous job where I was in an office every day.

My children are often around while I'm working, but they've never known anything other than me working from home and they respect my work time. They sit quietly while I'm writing, knowing I'll visit with them when I'm able to do so. I also do all my writing from a laptop, so it's easy to move from the couch to my office, the dining room or the bedroom when the living room gets a little too loud or active for me to concentrate well.

And on those days when the words just won't flow -- assuming there's nothing that absolutely has to be written that day -- it might be time to grab one or two of the people around me and head for a nearby creek or pond to do a little "field work" and gather some fresh photos and story material!