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Kathryn Mayer • Writing Out Loud

I write stuff down. writer • humorist • activist

Why I Miss Commuting to Work

September 10, 2012 by Kate Mayer 7 Comments

www.returntoworkmom.com

Working from home eliminates the need for commuting, or so one would think.

I ache for that commute time: that rubbernecking, traffic jammed, disabled car on the side of the road valuable me time.

Nothing but radio du jour, or book-on-tape, or simple silence to think. To figure stuff out. Time to mentally prep for your day, unravel on the way home, to aptly switch gears from home to work and back again.

Not so when you work from the comfort of your own home.

The ability to think on the fly: to juggle work, copy, production, parent/teach conferences, doc appointments, cell phone, oil delivery, UPS, dogs barking, and the unthinkable: early dismissal from school or the godforsaken snow day, doesn’t allow for the limited neurons to switch from mom mode to work mode on the fly.

Can you switch gears working at home? I thought I could, but know full well that I can’t.

How do you do it, without screaming, usually to unsuspecting kid who just wants five seconds of eye contact, or a rather attractive husband who just wants you to read something real quick, or your beautiful teenagers who only grace you with their presence for such a brief moment that by the time you look up, they are long gone.

“SSSTOPPP ALREADY!!!”
“Gimme a friggin’ break!”
 Just One SECONDDDD!”
“AGGGGGHHH! I’LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE!” 

Why do I do this to the folks I love the most?

I never put a client on hold, or speak to them with anything but forlorn adoration while I jump through the hoop no matter how high, what time, or where it is located. Is it the desperation of a paycheck, or the willingness to please (or is that the same)?

So I’ve instituted my own commute: I’m taking an hour every day: morning and night for to pre-game and post-game my work day. I’m hitting the gym in the am, or walking the walk, to mentally prep the brain for the day ahead, all while shrinking the ass.

And I’m punching out, literally, once game time starts. That means my kids swim meets, soccer games, concerts, homework, or college prep attack. No longer choreographing print runs from the soccer sidelines, or negotiating contracts from swim stands, or reviewing copy changes during halftime shows.

It’s hard when you work from home: you’re at work all the time, and can’t stop the wheels from spinning, the ideas from generating, the to-do list from growing.

But I need that commute time. I desperately need that space between.

This isn’t about miles-per-gallon, it’s about energy per neuron. As I’ve gotten older, my neurons seem to be aging, and perhaps this cerebral computer is ready to crash if I don’t start taking better care of it.

I’ll let you know how it works.

If it works.


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Comments

  1. Mrs. Tuna says

    September 11, 2012 at 2:14 am

    I am not disciplined enough to work at home. I must go to the office even on the weekends. It’s because I have the attention span of a Lima bean.

    Reply
    • Kathy (p/t writer, f/t mom) says

      September 11, 2012 at 2:26 pm

      I used to go to Panera for my office space, but ass got bigger and wallet got smaller, and I could not stop eavesdropping on other squatters. Get out of that office on weekends!!

      Reply
  2. Mia says

    September 11, 2012 at 7:32 pm

    Yes, you totally deserve an hour to yourself! You just go head and take it! And it will be great to exercise during that time which is far better than sitting in the car!

    Reply
    • Kathy (p/t writer, f/t mom) says

      September 11, 2012 at 8:04 pm

      Not sure it will be an hour to myself…but it will not longer the double dipping that is frying my brain! I actually turned off my phone, which stopped my twitching when emails came in. BRILLIANT.

      Reply
  3. Christa aka The BabbyMama says

    September 26, 2012 at 2:50 pm

    Heck, even if it doesn’t work precisely as you’d like it to, but an hour of nonwork/nonparenting cannot be a bad thing! I work from home, and I’m a double dipper even though I try not to be. Plus, I end up doing all the laundry. Uncool!

    Reply
    • Kathy (p/t writer, f/t mom) says

      September 26, 2012 at 9:11 pm

      The double dipping is killing me. I can’t switch gears fast enough, and if something falls off the tip of my tongue, it is gone forever. sigh

      Reply
  4. Romy Sommer says

    December 19, 2012 at 10:15 am

    Hi Kathy – I’m really sorry that I only stumbled across your blog because of the terrible tragedy in your home town, and I’d like to send you and your whole community wishes of love and healing from the far side of the planet.

    At the start of this year I moved my kids to a school on the far side of town. It’s a fantastic school and worth the extra drive time, but I was really not looking forward to the longer commute. Instead, I’ve loved it. Like you, I find it a great time to listen to music or audio books, or just to think, and now I find I arrive at work in a much better frame of mind than when I had only a short commute.

    Reply

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Kathryn Mayer

An irreverent storyteller with a foul mouth and big heart, Kathryn Mayer (aka Kathy and/or Kate) is a writer, humorist, and activist writing out loud with humor and grace about little life moments with big ripples, including the space between parenting and aging parents, social issues, angsty reflections of midlife, and, sigh, gun humpers. Still. Sometimes a big deal, sometimes not Mayer is a national award-winning columnist, according to the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and her essays have been recognized as Voice of the Year … Read More Here...

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