Making Time for the Whole Family

When I decided to make the change from work at the office to work at home, I expected to have a whole lot more time to spend with my family. I had envisioned day trips to the park with the kids, early afternoon movies with my honey and vacations where we would just pack up and leave on a whim, it seemed as though it would be so easy since I would no longer have a boss looking over my shoulder. The problem was I didn’t figure one aspect into the equation, myself.

Its something I have known for quite a while, I am a work-a-holic, I love working and once I get going it becomes very hard to pull me away from my project until its finished. I think I must have overlooked that or maybe thought I could change once I setup headquarters at home, but I didn’t. The reality is that I found myself working more hours than ever before, not because I had to but because I wanted to. I wanted to sit in front of this computer and type up articles, manage numerous websites and so on, I love it and thats why I do it to this day, but it was effecting my family and I couldn’t even see it.

I felt like it was a blessing for my family, I was home and they could see me or talk to me whenever they wanted, but I realized that I wasn’t really there, it was kind of a shell they were talking to. I mean sure I was sitting there, but I was so engrossed in the work that I couldn’t fully devote my attention to the conversation. It had got to the point where we would go out and I was always in a hurry to get home, I had to see if I missed anything important, maybe an email I was waiting on came through, or worse yet maybe one of sites were down and would often ruin the outing because I cut it short to be with my work. I hate to say it, but it was almost as if I were having an affair with the Internet.

It took me over a year to finally realize this myself, that even though I was technically spending time with my family, I really wasn’t spending time with them at all. Once I was able to see that I knew I had to make a change, but how do you stop doing something that you love? The easiest way is to think about which you love the most, because after a while you will have to choose one so it had better be the one you want. The one I wanted was my family, I love them with all of my heart, they are the reason I decided to work from home in the first place, to spend time with them.

The strange thing is, that even though I had began to sacrifice time from my work to spend with my loved ones, my business actually began to flourish, more so than it was before my insight. Now that I look back, I can see that sure I was spending 18 hours a day working, but most of the time I was so burnt out that the work just wasn’t good, it was hurting me more than doing good. So once I pulled away from the work a bit, I again was able to enjoy what I was doing with the added benefit of more free time to do what I really wanted to do.

The Moral of the Story

Whether you’re poor, rich, working or out of work you have to stop and realize what truly is number one in the grander scheme of things. You always have to put your family first, everything else can fall into place in a close second, but family has to come first. Once you put family first, everything else has this weird way of working itself out.

If you can do all of this, your life will be better, fuller and more enriched than it ever has been before, I promise. Just do what comes naturally and let your family know just how much you love them.

Tags: family, family time, Managing time, schedules, Time-Management, work, work at home, work from home

Business Ethics - Speaking Up or Keeping Silent?

I have always been an advocate of saying what’s on your mind, but the question here is, is that appropriate in the business world? My answer, Absolutely! To an extent….?

Outspoken Workers

Whether you like them or not, outspoken people tend to prosper in the workplace. They are not afraid of sharing their thoughts or feelings on any particular matter, they are not afraid to speak out in the middle of a board room meeting or talk one on one with the boss in the privacy of his or her office.

Everybody, at some point in time, will have a great idea especially if they know their field of work. The outspoken crowd will be more likely to hit on those ideas in front of coworkers and higher ups. It makes them naturally look good in the eyes of a company, they often look like the type of people that get the job done, they are leaders who appear to always be on the lookout for the company, keeping track of the companies’ best interests.

The Silent Type

In a lot of cases the silent type are more genuine and caring, they are often highly focused on the task at hand but they also tend to be shy and show little signs of power and leadership. Most companies will not look at a shy or quiet person as someone well suited for a management position. That persons inability to speak out in a crowd may affect and/or weaken communication among the employees. Companies are usually looking for people who are strong and not afraid to take charge under any situation.

If you would be considered the silent type, it is time to come out of your shell and let the world know that you are here. I used to be one of you when I was younger, if I were around a group of people I would clam up and have nothing to say. One day I made a commitment to myself that I would change, I would demand to be seen for my skills and expertise and on top of that I would be taken seriously. So the following day I went to work, mustered up everything I had and shared my ideas with all right in the middle of our morning meeting. You know what, people liked my ideas and I began progress in my job, but it wasn’t easy by any means. That morning when my mouth started talking I felt like crawling in a hole from sheer embarrassment. But when it was all over and people were talking about what I had to say, it honestly felt really really good. Oh and by the way, since that day I have had the pleasure of speaking at conferences and seminars in front of hundreds of people, which is something I could have never done had I not taking those steps.

Stay Away from Extremes

While I did have a lot of good things to say about those of you that like to speak up, it can be easy to take it too far. You have to learn when the best and appropriate times are to share your knowledge. I have crossed paths with many people that just blurt out whatever they are thinking at that particular time, and I can guarantee you that nobody likes that, it will come off as though you are only interested in what you have to say and not anyone else in the room.

Once you find that good mesh between silent type and outspoken, you will be amazed at just how fast you can climb the ranks to higher positions and of course the always great pay raise.

Tags: business, business ethics, code of conduct, ethics of business, speaking your mind, work