I run a small consulting business, which needs to weave into my life as a mother and military spouse. Stay-at-home orders almost HARPOONED any productivity that I could muster this spring. There was a lot of out loud shouting (better than in my head or into a pillow, I guess?) and there was a lot of heartache at the start. Now, six weeks into staying at home, teaching my kids at the kitchen table, I have clawed my way back. Slightly. There are better boundaries around school and work, though there are still a lot of late nights and unfinished projects.

A good reminder, don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do TODAY. And perhaps, even more appropriate, don’t think that a huge chunk of time will show up later for you to work.

I have a podcast episode that rests in near completion which I started last year. It was pushed and pushed because I kept waiting for a time when I could sit and focus on the project from start to finish. Now I have to figure out when the final edits and mixing will happen.

What I am trying to do better is to chip away at whatever chunks of projects I can when I have a small bit of time. For a really long time I was spoiled by schedule of a 9-5 job and a workspace outside the home. A project could be focused on for hours at a time. I don’t expect that luxury to return anytime soon.

So, instead of using my energy to gripe about what doesn’t get done (I do this a LOT), I’m trying to embrace bite-sized opportunities to work. Ask me how this is going in another six weeks.

Updates:.

I did an interview with SD Voyager at the beginning of the year about my work.

I am on the final day of my third-annual April writing streak, and have been writing daily, producing to-date 24 essays, each at about 500 words a piece, all on Medium. What was meant to be a practice in short essay writing turned into a bit of a Covid Journal, as a majority of the pieces have centered around experiences in staying home.