The Isolated Entrepreneur

Taking out the garbage is a ritual that everyone takes part of.  Have you ever noticed how different it can be from house to house?

My husband and I were introduced to our ritual by a neighbor.  Since we live on a small court, it is common for the trucks not to pull in all the way and pick up everyone’s garbage.  So we put the grass clippings, recyclables and garbage cans of three homes on a patch of grass not 10 feet long. =-)

On my walk today I noticed a man taking his garbage out.  He had on gardening gloves and was taking rusted old metal cans to the curb one-by-one using a dolly that had seen better days.  His neighbor used a wheelbarrow and garbage bags.

What is your ritual?

Working at home is not like working in an office.  You have no co-workers and you can easily be distracted by housework.

Many experts say a key to working successfully at home is to have a ritual.  They suggest getting dressed like you are going to work and having a dedicated space with a door you can close for your office.

Your office rituals are supposed to get you into the “work mode” and allow you to spend time productively.

For me, the crucial piece of advice is establishing set hours.

Everyone is different.

The important thing to remember is that what works for one person may not work for you.  A work-at-home mom with toddlers needs to have different rituals from someone who has the house to themselves.

I dream of having my own home office someday. The location and design of it is still very fuzzy.

Right now, my desk sits in a closet in the playroom. I can closely monitor my kids while I type away at my computer. I can also lock the closet doors so I don’t need to worry about them getting into my desk when I am not in the room.

Over 90% of the time, I am not working at my desk. I may be at the kitchen table, outside on the patio, or hiding on the floor of my bedroom. My kids are 1 and 4 (happy birthday, Ian) and their play still needs to be supervised for the most part.

But some day, I will actually be able to come out of the closet. =-) So where should I put my office?

• Convert the playroom into a office/den. Work there during school days.
• Use the back room (currently used for storage) in the basement. I would get the least interruptions.
• Have a carpenter build a desk in the kitchen. Best view of the backyard.
• Use a beautiful antique armoire desk (front folds up) my father has but doesn’t use that can be put in the dining or living room.

Right now I am preferring the very quiet back room in my basement.

Here are some sources I have discovered while I search. Feel free to leave comments with other links. =-)

• “5 Office Design Tips for Better Productivity,” Darrell Zahorsky, About.com
• “Home Office Plan & Design Books“, Catherine Roseberry, About.com
• “Office Design on the Cheap,” Susan Ward, About.com

One of my favorite things about working at home is the ability to work in different places: the kitchen table, on the patio, in the living room, etc. - Thank you wireless network.

Ok… since I have a 1 1/2 and 4 year old, it is a necessity as well. =-) There are times it would be nice to hide behind the boxes in my basement.

My favorite part of roaming are the house are the outdoors. From my patio and all the windows at the back of the house, I see the bird feeder. I have a newly planted garden from Spring Hill Nursery (check out the complete garden plans) in the front of my house.

Bird Feeders

I was lucky enough to see a rose-breasted grosbeak pass through. He was there for only 1 hour before flying on.

We have a pole system from Wild Birds Unlimited. On our pole, I have a thistle sock, a cage for pure suet, and two bird feeders with safflower and sunflower seeds. My next mission will be a bird bath — probably just a flower pot base set in the ground. =-)

If you have a Wild Birds Unlimited store near you, it is worth the visit. They are experts in recommending bird feed and feeders that will work for you. I have been able to reduce my population of black birds and starlings by changing over to a pure suet cake (not the ones with nuts and corn in them) — and the best part is that the woodpeckers like this better than the other stuff. Check out the educational section of their website, for information of what seed attracts what birds.

A great book about birding is National Audubon Society North America Birdfeeder Guide. It talks about:

• placement of nesting boxes and feeders
• bird-friendly flowers, shrubs and trees
• types of bird seed and feeders that different birds like
• bird identification pages which includes photos of a sitting and bird in flight.

Hummingbirds

Finally, if you have hummingbirds in your area, put out your feeders. I recommend a hummingbird feeder with perches (they actually prefer these and will sit on them). And don’t be shy about buying one that sticks to the window. To make the nectar, add 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup of water and boil until the sugar is dissolved.

In Michigan, the official date is May 1st. The boys arrive first with the females coming in a couple of weeks. I would hear the first hummingbird around 5:30 am and the last about 10:00 pm at the height of summer. The boys would dive-bomb each other. They are quite entertaining.

Enjoy!

Up here in Michigan, the weather is breaking. You can catch glimpses of daffodils, green grass, and the return of summer birds.

Most schools have Easter/Spring break next week or the following. It can be very stressful trying to juggle work and kids during this time.

Why not take a break yourself? Even if it is just for one day, or a couple hours each day, you will feel much better focusing on your kids than cramming in work between interruptions by bored kids.

Find a local attraction like a park, hands-on museum or zoo that your kids can enjoy. Pack a lunch and take a bike ride with your kids.

Are you looking for some music to fill your kid-infested office.  =-)

Here is  a Squidoo lens about great music for kids.

I launched my own Squidoo Lens called “Websites for Kids.”

It is the start of a reference page for parents by providing a list of websites your kids would enjoy or can use to complete their homework.

Anyone can add links and rate the ones that are there.   I would love it if you contribute as my kids are still pre-schoolers.  =-)

My three year old is into dinosaurs. We go back to the library to get several new books every couple of weeks.

So finally one of these books has set us straight. There is no brontosaurus - just some enterprising “scientist”. He put the head of another dinosaur on the body he discovered.

For entrepreneurs, this is a reminder that rushing to put products out so they can get the monetary return may have consequences.

I don’t know about you, but my office is my house. I move from room to room monitoring my kids (age 1 and 3). I may be typing away one moment and eating a plastic cookie and drinking air the next.

Uninterrupted work time is reserved for early mornings and evenings. When I get frustrated, I remind myself every day that I chose this life so I could be with my kids.

My business is thriving because of two factors:

1. my clients know up front that I am working at home with small kids
2. and I am very careful as to the type of work I take on.

It is very hard to meet deadlines in this type of environment.

Read Mike Gunderloy’s post, “How to Manage Kids in the Home Office” for ideas on saving your sanity.

My kids have "inherited a play kitchen" from their aunt. She bought
new play food since the old stuff was mostly missing or mutilated. =-)

Some of the new play food are boxes that resembles the packaging
found in the grocery store. Since they are empty, it only took about
5 minutes for them to be squished and some even ripped by my one-year old.

To fix them and make them more durable, I stuffed them with plastic
bags and taped them shut with clear packaging tape.

To augment what they have, I bought or gave them the following and
put them in the playroom.
- Single-serve cereal boxes.
- Empty water bottles.
- Old Tupperware used for my husband's lunch box.
- Wicker baskets.
- Plastic fruit donated by the grandparents.
- tablecloth and napkins (also used for bathing animals and babies)

What ideas do you have?

Well, the two-week Christmas break is over. My husband, a school principal, is back at work and it’s back to the old home mom schedule.

The most painful part is waking early. But is also the most stress-free part of my day. By getting up at 5:30, I can get one hour (if I am lucky 2-3) uninterrupted time working as well as get the laundry started. Uninterrupted time is a very precious thing when you have two kids under 4.

The rest of the day is a juggle. I found I am more relaxed and better able to handle interruptions if I wake up early.