Being a stay-at-home-work-at-home mom requires a ridiculous amount of motivation and determination. My graphics studio is located in our basement (technically the first level of our townhouse, but it's pretty much a cave). Right behind my desk sits the most comfortable couch known to humankind. It's microfiber, it's soft and oh, so roomy. In fact, my husband and I have both lain across each end of the L shape and stretched out completely while watching a movie together. My couch calls to me. Daily. It's such a tease. "Tracy, sit down and relax. I've got Tivo! Work can wait. You know you want to!"
Yes, I really do want to. Sometime around 2 p.m. I hit that midday lull where my productivity starts to wane and my eyes dry up from having stared at the computer monitor for the last five hours. If I turn my head just slightly, I can see my dog Waffles snoozing comfortably on aforementioned couch and I start to give in to temptation. Most of the time I snap out of it long enough to remember that I've got things to do. If I worked in an office, there would be no napping on the couch. A gossip break in the lunchroom or quick run to the downstairs cafe, yes, but snoozing on the clock? Hardly.
Since opening my studio in 2007, I've realized I have to be "open" for business during specific hours. If I don't have client work, unless there is an urgent family matter, I tell myself that I need to use the time I've set aside to build my business. But it doesn't always happen that way. I get sidetracked online constantly. Google is my enemy when it comes to productivity. It's my couch's evil cohort. One minute I'm Googling camera information for an upcoming job and the next I'm finding myself absorbed in cuteoverload.com because someone took a picture of a fluffy miniature bunny with the wide-angle zoom lens I was researching. I couldn't help it. It was SO FLUFFY! Stupid time sucking Google and its nonspecific search results.
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When all else fails, sometimes a change in scenery wakes me back up. A venti Pikes (that's a large coffee for all you non-coffee snobs) at the Lorton Valley Starbucks can help me get back into my creative zone. I set my laptop up and find myself able to tune back in to the world of graphic design. And when I'm done with my specified work hours, I feel like I've really accomplished something. Until I go back home and see the dishes, the laundry, the school papers, and... I think the couch looks really inviting right about now.
What keeps you on track during the day?
