The reality of working from home

You may have noticed my lack of posts lately....
Let me be honest and tell you that I'm suffering from 'screen overload'.
And on top of that - 'messy desk syndrome'.

One of the reasons for these is because I work from home.
Often when I mention this to people they comment like this "oh isn't that wonderful", "how lucky are you", "isn't that just the life" and other statements that lean towards thinking that it is the ideal work situation.

Well today, I'm here to tell you what its really like.

Its not fun
Its not enjoyable
Its not sociable
Its not easy
Its not convenient
Its not wonderful
Its not 'the life'
Its not ideal

Working from home is hard...
and lonely...
and frustrating...
and takes effort...
and self-control...
and requires A LOT of motivation.

I travel to our office once a week where I interact with the most amazing bunch of work colleagues anyone could ever hope for - I feel priviledged to call them "friends". And I also have the most amazing boss!  
Whilst in the office I have appointments with clients and finalise details of what I've worked on showing any issues to my boss. 
I then pack up piles of clients information and files and make several trips to and from my car to transport them home.

REALITY NUMBER ONE: Transporting files is a lot harder than leaving them at work! 

Have you ever thought about how it would be if once you arrived at work you needed to make about 4 trips to and from the car to get everything sorted? I don't even do that many trips when I do our grocery shopping and parking in the garage is a lot closer to the kitchen than the parking spot that I often find at work!

Once home I then move all the files into my office.
REALITY NUMBER TWO: Work comes into the 'home'.

I know its often mentioned how healthy it is to keep these two separate - but for some of us, that's not possible. 

I have one desk. Work and home have to share.
Thankfully its a large desk.
I have added more shelves underneath so that on non-work days I can put files away so they aren't sitting on my desk, sometimes they don't all fit though so they sit on my desk anyway! 

So when people talk about walking away from work - that also means for me sometimes I just don't want to sit in my office doing things that are 'home' things because work is still there!

Contrary to popular belief, on work days I don't get to run in and out of the house catching up on washing, or doing the dishes that I wasn't feeling up to last night. 
Guess what, I actually work! Huh - funny that!
No I don't spend my time in the kitchen baking cakes & sauces & spread, even though that is much rather what I'd like to do!
I actually sit at my desk and work.

REALITY NUMBER THREE: Some days I spend the entire time sitting at my desk.

Yep, so next time you're in the office and you enjoy stretching your legs as you walk across the floor to give someone a phone message --> appreciate it. There's no-one to walk to here!

I have learned to make the most of lunch breaks, not just sit in-front-of-your-screen lunch breaks --> real lunch breaks. I love a sunny day to sit outside and appreciate the space.

Its hard to sit here and not have anyone to run random questions by, to discuss the latest news with, to show off your new shoes to, to comment on the client's work that you just "don't get".  All of which I thoroughly enjoy on my day in the office!

REALITY NUMBER FOUR: Sometimes I don't see an adult other than my husband for days at a time.

And for someone who is quite the social butterfly let me assure you THAT IS HARD! And realllllllllllllllly depressing.

I have learned the importance of social interactions and as such my daughter now catches the bus to and from school so that at least I can see a few mum's up the road each morning and afternoon!

REALITY NUMBER FIVE:  There is no down time between work and home.

The down time between work and home is quite relaxing. I realise now how much the travel time home from work really calms us! By the time we're home we often forget the work hassles of the day! When working from home there is no break between work and home. 


Today's post was inspired by a teary moment in my 'lunch break' when it was all too hard & I just wanted to be able to work back in our office.
And yet I must not forget the positives that come from working at home:
Despite rainy days being lousy for a lunch break - it means that I get the privilege of having my kitty on my desk all day.

Sometimes I'm even blessed with this on sunny days too!

I also appreciate having use of our oven and stove at home because that means whatever I want for lunch I can pretty much have. I love a warm home-made lunch on cold days!

And despite all my frustrations the biggest positive is that I can still be a 'mum' to my daughter. I don't want her spending her afternoons in child-care and me not being a part of her life. I honestly believe that after school time is such a valuable time to connect with what's happening in her world.

....And so for that reason, and that reason only..... I have my cry & then I plough on. I close all distractions and get back to work knowing that I value both my job & my daughter!



So next time you hear "working from home" mentioned - instead of rushing in with the lucky/easy comments, take a minute to think - perhaps it isn't that easy. Tell them you've heard that it can be hard & ask them how they find it! Perhaps they don't find it so enjoyable either!!!

A-Z of Home Cleaning

I'm not posting this to encourage you to do the dishes or the washing more frequently..... we all know when they are overdue and need to be done.
I'm hoping this list can get you a little motivated to look around the home at other areas that are sometimes forgotten about.
Its not a complete list - but just a little something fun to help get the motivation flowing!!!

With March just around the corner, I'm planning to do a letter a day. And finish my alphabetical list just in time to relax before the Easter long weekend.
Everyone always mentions "Spring Cleaning" - well I reckon there's no reason not to clean in Autumn too! No-one wants the home to be un-organised going into winter!!! We need to feel comforted at home when we're stuck inside under blankets ;-)

• A - Appliances. Yes we all wipe over the kitchen bench several times a day - but how often do you give your appliances a wipe? Today wipe over the kettle, the coffee machine, the toaster, the blender and any other kitchen appliances that need your care.  Did you know that just shaking the crumbs out of your toaster really isn't enough?......To help give it a thorough clean, pour a quarter of a cup of salt into your toaster, let it sit for 10 minutes and then give it a good shake out. 

• B - Bathroom cabinet. Clean the toilet if you must, but also use today to clear everything out of the bathroom cabinet, wipe over the shelves & replace only those items that you know will be used. Bathrooms cabinets are often a place where items get jammed to the back and forgotten about.  

• C - Cushions and pillows. When was the last time you washed the couch cushions??? They tend to get forgotten. Today remove all the covers from cushions and pillows, wash and dry them. Wash the pillows if they are washable and if not, then hang them in direct sunlight to give them a freshen up. Give them a nice big fluff before replacing the clean covers.

• D - Dishes and dishwasher. This sounds boring doesn't it??? Today go through your everyday 'dish' cupboard and sort out which items you want to keep and not. Anything that is broken - toss it out (or find another purpose for it). Anything you no longer want or use, donate to charity. Clean your dishwasher by putting it on the hot cycle with just a jug of white vinegar in it!

• E -Education. Sort through any college/uni papers. Any school papers of the kids that need organising? Work papers scattered everywhere.... If you have some extra money pay off education loan! 

• F - Fridge and freezer. Hopefully its a nice hot day when you come across letter F! Remove everything from the fridge and wipe over with vanilla. Sort through containers & put back only what will be used. Toss any sauces, condiments etc that have sat in the fridge unused or are out-of-date. Defrost your freezer and check that nothing has sat in the bottom unused. If you have anything that is still in date but that you don't plan to use - why not cook a meal for your neighbour :-) 

 

• G - Garage. Ok I hear you - I know its a man's department. But you can make your hubbie feel really loved if you just give it a sweep and tidy a few odds and ends! 

 

• H - Hobby sorting. Most people have an area that is designated to their hobby activites. Whatever that is, craft, sewing, scrapbooking, other - tidy the area up. Sort through any piles that have accumulated and toss out any rubbish.

 

• I - Ironing. Ok today is a nice easy one. Yep, just get on top of that ironing pile!!!

• J - Jewellery and dressing table. Sort through your jewellery drawer & decide on pieces you want to keep/not keep. Sort out the top of that dressing table to have it looking lovely :-) 

 

• K - Kitchen cupboards. Most people I know have a kitchen cupboard that they just dread opening! Is it your tupperware cupboard??? Whichever cupboard it is - use today to tackle it. Sort out what you want to keep and what is no longer needed.

 

• L - Linen press. Sort out towels, handtowels, bed linen and other items that are stored in your linen press.
• M - Mending. Today is the day to finally tackle that pile of buttons, zippers, hemming and other mending jobs that have sat around for a few months! If you're not the mending type - then use today to make the trip to a tailor to get it done.
• N - Notes and notepads. Are you like me and have little bits of paper around the house everywhere? Go around the home and collect all the papers. Designate a proper place for 'notes', and check them weekly to sort which ones can be thrown away. Instead of having lots of little papers, see if you can keep one notepad with everything in it.

• O - Ornaments. If you are an ornment keeper you'll know that sometimes they can get really dusty! Use today to gently wipe over your collection & decide if you want to continue to keep the items. If you're not an ornament collector, use today to wipe over any decorative pieces you have on display in your home (vases, picture frames etc).

• P - Pantry! You knew it was coming right??? That's right - go through those shelves and toss old items. Donate items that won't be used. Items that are close to expiry put in a pile somewhere that they can be used in the next week.

•  Q - Quilts & blankets. Air all quilt and blankets. If you can hang them in direct sunlight that is best as it helps to kill mold spores. Mold can start to develop even before we can see it!  

• R- Rugs. Are you someone who vacuums over the rugs and forgets to lift it and actually vacuum under it??? I must admit that I'm quite guilty of that. Today lift any rugs off the floor - give them a good shake out and hang them in the sun. Actually vacuum the spot where the rug was before replacing the rug ;-)

• S - Spray and wipe. Clean over all the clear surfaces in your home. Dust settles so easily and just a fresh wipe makes everything feel sparkly clean. I highly recommend this all purpose cleaner that I use.  

•  T - Toy attack! With your child's help, sort out toys that are no longer wanted/used and create a pile to donate to charity. Sort the remaining toys into a sensible order that the child can access when wanting to. If you don't have children, I suggest using today to tackle that childhood soft toy collection that you might have! Give your furry friends a gentle wash & then decided if you still want to keep them! 

• U - Under the sink. Another area very prone to clutter. How many take-away lunch containers do you really need?!? Clear everything out of these cupboards & check for no signs of leaking. Wipe shelves & replace only things that are needed and will be used.  

• V - Vacuum. Another boring basic day! But just make sure that you do a proper job and use the skinny edge to clean along the skirting boards too! 

• W - Window sills. Wipe along all the window sills and blinds (if you have them). Cooled black tea is fantastic to use to clean wood.  

• X - X-tra. Have you found your motivation yet? Or lost it? Is there anything extra that you feel like sorting out in your home - then today is the day :-)

•  Y - Yard. I am an indoors person so you won't find me out in the yard too often! None the less, when the yard is looking tidy it is a wonderful feeling. Use today to pile up that pile of leaves, sweep over any paved areas and just give the yard a general tidy.  

• Z - zzzzzzzz. you've worked so hard over all these letter days! Use today to do anything else that you're motivated to clean and tidy - but whatever you do - make sure you get enough sleep tonight!!!

I'm becoming an organised housewife!!!

I've been really motivated to clean & tidy the last few months.

Have you read my post about how I've switched to chemical free cleaning?

It's so refreshing to have things organised, clean & tidy.

We bought our very first home 10 months ago!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYY! :D 

A life long dream of mine after renting for over 10 years. However, moving is never fun, no matter when or where you end up and I must admit that there were several places in our home that didn't quite get the unpacking attention they deserved, especially as our unpacking was somewhat crowded by the Christmas time rush. I have been very motivated to get EVERYTHING all sorted out properly & when I stumbled across this the other day I was HUGELY excited!

                      GUESS WHAT......

                                  And the best news is that you can too!
The amazing website The Organised Housewife has put together a challenge called 20-days-to-organise-and-clean-your-home.  Why not sign up to the fun & join hundreds of other ladies as we seek to clean & organise our homes!

There was a time when my home was in a complete ~SHAMOZZLE~ to say the least, with little time or energy to fix it even though I so desperately wanted to!
I must admit I am so pleased with how our home is today. Yes it takes a bit of time, but it never hurt me to turn off the TV or close down that facebook page! In fact, in made me feel SOOOO good if I did!
After all - a home is supposed to be somewhere that we can relax & feel comfortable & enjoy being. 

I LOVE COMING HOME TO OUR HOME.

Here's some pictures of what I have already done prior to even knowing about the organised housewife challenge! I just wish I had of taken more "before" pictures! I just get so excited when I have achieved the "after" that I remember to take happy snaps ;-)

Every woman needs an organised dresser! Sure beats the pile of tissues and make-up and pens and pins it used to have on it!

How can it be that having an organised under-the-sink can feel so good?

I love a Tupperwared pantry ;-)

Especially when its arranged alphabetically!!!

But for now.... it's bed time!
I'm going to continue to post about my journey through the challenge with more pictures to come!
Starting with how I managed to organise my craft side-of-the-room just a few weekends ago! There's already plenty of photos on this post! ;-)

Chemical Free Cleaning

I have recently decided to go chemical free in our home for cleaning.

I originally thought I would just 'try' to see how it went.

The main reason I decided on this was because I had been getting small cuts all over my hands & nothing seemed to help. Not amount of 'cream' seemed to stop the cuts from coming, yes some creams would soothe once I already had the cut but I couldn't get rid of them.

I had always just blamed "cold weather" or winter but the Summer just past I had cuts the whole time too. 

I wish I had of taken a photo to be able to show what my hands were like.

Lets just say, imagine having tiny paper-cuts all over the backs of your hands & by the time one heals there is another to take its place.

Painful, to say the least. 

Somedays I felt like I could hardly move my hands from the pain.

I would try to remember to wear gloves thinking that the less 'air' got onto my hands the better - but of course, if you have ever tried to live in gloves you realise how impractical it is!

When cleaning I tried using gloves so I wasn't 'touching' any of the chemicals and when that didn't help I tried latex free gloves in case my skin couldn't handle the fabric of the gloves.

Still the same result.

Perhaps I wasn't moisturising enough. So I tried plenty of different products and applied numerous times a day.

Still the same result.

Nothing seemed to be working.

So, I randomly decided that I would try not cleaning with commercial products.

I CANNOT BELIEVE THE DIFFERENCE!

My hands completely healed in a week & I HAVE NOT HAD ONE CUT ON MY HANDS SINCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So glad I "tried".

A month later & I am so grateful that I made that decision!

I have my hands back!

I thought I would give a little run down of what I have been using & some helpful places to go for direction if you too are interested in keeping chemicals to a minimum in your home.

Grab yourself a few spray bottles! They are inexpensive & can be easily rinsed out to be re-used.
Another inexpensive must have is a micro-fibre glove. Its dust-collecting benefits are wonderful!

Number one cleaning product:

BI-CARD SODA!

I cannot believe how effective this stuff is!

It has so many uses.

- stain remover

- deodorizer

- body scrub

What I've been doing with it:

- To clean tiles I put a tablespoon bi-carb in a bucket with a teaspoon Eucalyptus Oil, fill with water = great for scrubbing floors & removing marks!

- I've been sprinkling bi-carb in smelling shoes = no more smells!

- Sprinkle some on pots with stains let set them remove = no need to scrub pots!

- Let cleaning clothes sit in sink with teaspoon bi-carb = very clean clothes that can be reused!

- About once a week I've been doing a quick wash in our dishwasher with a tablespoon of bi-carb = no more smelling dishwasher!

- I have a small container in the fridge with a teaspoon of bi-carb sitting in it = no more smells coming from the fridge!

Check out this link for some more ideas:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/51-fantastic-uses-for-baking-soda.html?page=1 

Who knew you could do more than just cook with bi-carb!!!!!!

Also handy:

LEMON JUICE

Great for cleaning soap scum. 

Use to clean the bathroom as it has mild bleach properties. 

Fantastic as a kitchen bench spray, as it works like a degreaser! Using a natural cleaner in the kitchen has got to be a positive when food prep is involved!

I have been squeezing half a lemon into a spray container & adding water - keep this for about a week & use as a general purpose spray.

After about a week flush down the drain - great for clearing drain smells too!

VINEGAR

Vinegar kills bacteria. Cleaning vinegar or white vinegar work equally as well.It can be mixed with lemon juice or bi-carb to use as a cleaner, or buy itself diluted with water. Mixing with lemon juice helps with the smell!

Vinegar has a great 'shine' quality to it - so this works well for polishing over those kitchen back-splash tiles and over general household furniture. 

Use to rinse out the toilet!  

Add to your washing in place of fabric softener! 

Use to clean coffee/tea stains off your mugs.

Oh and have I mentioned how CHEAP it is to buy!  

EUCALYPTUS OIL (also try tea tree oil)

Works as both a disinfectant and antiseptic. Can be used as a general purpose spray when diluted with water.

Try as an air-freshener, toilet spray or mould killer

Add to washing to kill dust-mites!

Apparently its great as a cockroach and ant deterrent too!

VANILLA

This is another great product to use for cleaning in the kitchen.

Best bit is the lovely fragance it leaves!

Great for cleaning over white goods and bench tops. Try using it for your fridge and microwave.

For some great ideas for chemical free cleaning check out these websites:

Back-To-Basics-Cleaning 

Shannon Lush (Amazing lady who is a chemical free guru - also did a TV series on the LIfestyle channel called "Lush House" showing heaps of tips)