When Working at Home is Too Much
People frequently ask how I do it all and wonder if I’m secretly SuperMom. The truth? I’m not. I get tired, exhausted even, grumpy and yell at my kids and husband sometimes because I’m under too much pressure. Sometimes, I mess up client work. Sometimes I let people down. And sometimes, I cry because it’s all just too much.
December was a prime example of this. I had two clients going into the holiday season and had recently withdrawn from several others. I planned to work less, but continue working in December, as my husband had informed me that he had no work with the band. Well, come the end of November, he did have work. And those few days turned into 35 gigs over the month . . . he was essentially gone for days, coming home only to sleep for a few hours and then leaving again.
Needless to say, that put a little crimp in my plans and I struggled to get anything at all done while watching the boys. Our Christmas shopping was squeezed into two afternoons when he was actually home long enough for us to trade off kidsitting to buy gifts!
It’s NORMAL to be overwhelmed sometimes, whether you work at home or not. However, being a work at home mom adds extra challenges to your life and it does seem you have to be a superwoman just to keep all the balls in the air!
Is there a magical solution? Not yet! But you can take a look at your life and figure out what you can drop when things get too stressful. It’s ok to say no to a playdate if you don’t have time. Your kids won’t suffer for it and you can avoid another stressor.
That’s not to say you should just vanish off the face of the earth when things pile up (though it’s tempting!), but do what you can to ease the pressure. Unexpected things happen. If need be, cancel something. While you can’t do this all the time, it can help you keep your sanity every once in a blue moon.
What are your tips for making it through when it all seems like too much to handle?
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