Where does the time go??

Wow. It's been almost a year since I published something.

Did I really have nothing to say? I don't think the people who've had to listen to me yap yap yap for the past months would say that.

Mostly, I've been trying to earn an actual living working from home. It's not easy, and I might just give in and go work somewhere, but I have to say, I really love working from home, and I've recently gotten much better at it.

It's a combination of things that makes working from home difficult.

1. Loneliness. I have to say, I enjoy being alone for the most part, but working from home has taught me that if I'm home alone for days on end, I go a little nuts. I've learned to take the laptop to a coffee shop, or Skype people, or go for a walk, or something. I've also learned much about how to cherish my friends.

Fortunately, I have the yarn store, so three days a week I do actually leave the house and go hang out with other people. I make a little money, and that's nice, but if I didn't have the job at the store, I'd have to volunteer at some youth place or something. I'm just not the hermit I thought I was.

2. Discipline. This should probably go first, and in all caps, or something. It's just so dang easy to procrastinate when you're surrounded by dishes that need cleaning and TV that needs watching.

3. Creating a work space. As awful as offices are -- cubicle hell!! -- they are created from the floor up to promote work. Homes are for living, not working. I've found the solution by creating two specific work spaces -- one for being comfortable while I edit and write, and one where I'm surrounded by tools and resources for doing Website and publishing work.

4. Making up one's own hours. This one is super-tough for me. Frankly, I don't do well trying to force and nine-to-five schedule on myself. Instead, I have learned how to keep an eye on the clock to make sure that I work a collective number of hours a day. My actual problem is working too many hours (once I get going). I can put in a fourteen-hour workday and get a lot done -- but then I'm useless the next day. It's very hard to do other things than work when you have energy and time.

5. Budgeting on a freelance pay schedule. Okay, I'll admit, I still haven't really figured this one out. But I'm trying!

6. Recognizing that the state of my home influences productivity. This was a real firewall for me. I hate housework. Just hate it. If I had the money, I'd hire a cleaning lady. But I don't. Dirty dishes, dust bunnies, overflowing trashcans and general clutter lower my efficiency. I've had to learn to set aside "productive time" to deal with these things.

There's more, of course. I feel guilty all the time when I'm not working -- which is very much like when I was a student and felt guilty all the time when I wasn't studying. Organizing work projects continues to challenge me. Just today I realized I'd forgotten something important and I'm now rushing to make it up. And, always, there's anxiety about money. Money, money, money.