Working in the Midst of Chaos
It´s been very chaotic here over the past week and I´ve learned a lot about working and hitting deadlines despite the chaos.
As many of you know, I live in Guatemala and we´ve been hit with not one, but two tropical storms in the past week. That means lots of wind and rain . . . adding up to frequent power failures and children with cabin fever! On top of this, we had a new, custom counter installed in the kitchen right where my computer desk used to be. The process of assembly took two entire days and during that time, I had sketchy internet service and my computer was set up in the middle of the kitchen/living room! You can check out the process here.
So, what did I learn from all this? Glad you asked, I´d be happy to share my tips! 
- Roll with it. You can´t change stuff like the weather, so it´s a matter of staying calm and cool and just dealing with it. It´s easy to get frustrated when you can´t work the way you´re used to, but look at the bright side . . . a forced vacation can be good for you!
- Have fun. Depending on the situation, you can have some fun with the fact that you can´t work properly. I used the power outages as extra time with my kids, who were climbing the walls because they couldn´t go outside. We set up obstacle courses, read stories and played silly games.
- Work hard when you can. I don´t know about you, but I tend not to work super hard most days. There´s checking your email, looking at interesting websites and checking the stats on your blog . . . the internet is chock full of distractions. But when you have limited time, you buckle down and work. You´d be amazed at how much you can get done when you ignore everything else!
- Writing longhand isn´t so bad. I have to admit, I did panic a bit as one of my deadlines got near and the power was out for most of the day. So I pulled out some loose leaf and a pen, sat down on the couch and wrote out the main points for the articles. I even managed to fill in a bit of the actual writing (while my toddler “helped” by adding his notes in the margins).
- Get help. Those times when I could work, I enlisted my husband to do some kid wrangling so I could type without sticky fingers trying to kidnap my mouse. Sometimes you need to get rid of the distractions as much as is possible.
- Block it out. Construction is a noisy process, with hammers and drills and the like. Add to that two screeching children and a television set blaring Cars and it´s pretty darn hard to concentrate. The solution? Headphones and your favorite music. Helps keep your concentration where it should be . . . just be careful not to concentrate too much and inadvertently start singing along to “Carry On My Wayward Son” . . . it will get you some very odd looks from any carpenters in the area.
So, it´s your turn. Have you ever had to work in a chaotic setting? Perhaps you were moving or had in-laws staying with you? Share your story in the comments!
Don´t forget to enter the HomeHero 2-in-1 alarm giveaway!
Other Posts You May Enjoy
I love this blog. I’ll be back for more. Where do you sign up to get paid for writing blogs?
I take care of two two year olds and try to work. It’s too hard for me so I work at night.
Regina, I don´t blame you for working at night with two little ones. As for blog writing, I found these jobs through writing networks. I´ll be doing a post on how to find this sort of work shortly.