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By Elaine, October 1, 2009 2:56 pm

I am normally an energetic, enthusiastic WAHM(work at home mom) that lives on this side of optimism…rolling along with whatever comes my way and always seeing the bright sunny side to every situation.

OK…not so much lately…I have been a real Bitch…I could have used a different word or perhaps put symbols for the letters but it would not convey how I have been acting and feeling….Just ask my family… I am not me, and it has really been bothering me…not losing sleep bothering me, but a Bitchy bothering. I went through this checklist, much like Santa does just before sending out those goodies.

PMS - on certain days but not for a whole month or two!

The Scream by Edvard Munsch

Perimenopause – Could be, I am at that ripe age for this.

Depression - Been there, done that, not all the right symptoms.

I could not figure it out…and believe me after years of being in a fog I needed to figure it out!

Then…while catching up on some blog reading and more blog reading, I ended up here http://wahmbizbuilde.com/ and OMG… the answer to my angst was right there in front of me… I was thinking to myself “was she thinking of me as she wrote those words, was she watching me, did she know of my plight personally,are there other people like me”….it was as if the words were there just for me.

And there it was in a funny”Law of Attraction” kind of way, the answer found me… I had my explanation for this “situation“.  This is what I found.

“One of the biggest issues facing you as a work-at-home mom is the potential for burnout. You thought it would be easier to work from home, but why do you feel so exhausted all the time?

When you have to run around frantically every day to keep your business going, take care of your home and try to fit in family time, you’re stressed and unhappy. And you eventually burn out….”

Ok… so now I know that I am not going crazy or slipping into a vortex of depression… yahoo…wait… is that some enthusiasm slippping out… now that I have named it and claimed it, what next?

Time to pull out the strategy tool box, so here are my old stand-bys. Taking a daily walk, visiting my parents in the country (doing that this weekend), decluttering anything (I find this therapeutic)… and finally getting out of my house and seeing real people… I did that last night at the Red Whale with some other business WOMEN. This last one has not been an issue until recently, over the past 2 years I am spending less time with people and more time working on product so I am tied to the computer more that I am used to.

I love to teach others and I constantly take life situations and turn them into a classroom… my kids will attest to that…I drive them crazy with the life lessons.

Did you know there are over 900,000 self employed women in Canada, this is a 2007 statistic,  imagine what the global numbers would be today! I am part of a growing global trend , this is not a decision I made lightly and do not take it lightly or for one moment do I regret it… I would not change it for anything. However, there are times when you just need some help.

This is where the teaching and for me… learning part comes in. I will put my student hat on and would love for you to be the teacher.

Would you please share your SUCCESS strategies for dealing with WAHM burnout. Not just for me but for all the WAHM’s out there just like me who need a little help… to quote one of my all time favourite bands….

I get by with a little help from my friends…

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By Elaine, August 24, 2009 7:43 pm

For 30 seconds today I missed “The Office” I once knew.  Not the TV sitcom , but the place I used to hang my hat 11 years ago before I chose the WAHM lifestyle and traded in my office with the big window for an office in my home.

I had the pleasure of taxiing one of the kids to a 9:00 am Doctor appointment at the local hospital. On the way there he asked me ” What were you thinking Mom when you made this stupid early morning appointment”. ….I could go into more about the conversation but that is for another post. …. While he was in with the Dr and I was enjoying the stillness of the waiting room I could hear the place awaken to a new fresh Monday morning. My Spidey senses were on overload.

* The first thing I noticed were the two gals having  a Monday morning catch-up chat.  I love people watching, it is somewhat of a sport for me.  They were rehashing the details of their weekends and then with such ease they moved into a conversation about work, and what was happening in “The Office” that day. Office relationships can be tricky( just watch any episode of  “The Office” if you don’t know what I am referring to), however the body language I was watching was warm and comfortable.
* Next it was the smell…..the smell of coffee brewing and clean floors. Yes, obviously the cleaners had been busy on the weekend. You would think that the coffee would have got to me but no…it was the smell of clean.  As odd as this is to admit I find the smell of clean to be an aphrodisiac and I know for a fact that I am not the only woman who feels this way. Especially when I did not have to do the cleaning. My hubby also knows this fact and uses it to his advantage.
* The sounds intrigued me like the various parts of an orchestra. First it was the conversation, then the musical clanging of the keys as someone was opening their office after a weekend, the screech of the hinge on the heavy door opening onto another week of work. What brought me back to the present was the familiar sound of  the computer logging on to a day at “The Office”.

This is when I was jolted back to reality, remembering the Sunday night anxiety and the Monday morning dread that I left behind so many years ago.  Now I am not saying that everyone experiences this but I did many years ago and that precipitated my decision to change the way “The Office” looks for me. All of this happened in a flash…probably only 30 seconds of time.

This is what my Office looks like today. It is a place that incorporates my skills, knowledge and talents…and my sense of humor. A place that brings out the best is me most days and allows me the freedom to live a lifestyle of my choosing. My Office has a computer (my lifeline to the work) that on any given day could be in the Dining Room, the Kitchen, on the back deck or on a good day it could be in the dedicated office. I exchanged a  9 to 5 work day for the flexibility to wake up and start as early as 6:00 am so I am finished before the kids are up. My office relationships include the company of my 3 children, all their friends, and my husband on his week off. It also involves friends that span the globe and with amazing technology like Skype at my disposal I can connect with them any time. The regular pay I used to get has been replaced with an interesting pay schedule that can be compared to a Feast or sometimes a Famine.

In the evolution of work we have more flexibility than ever before. People work full time, flex time and part time. Companies are hiring people to work from their home so they have 24/7 support in countries spanning the globe. More people than ever are leaving regular jobs for the freedom of entrepreneurship. The workplace has certainly changed dramatically in the past decade.

What does your office look and feel like? Why not spend some time making your office an extension of who you really are, enjoying the benefits of working the way that works best for you.