Working at Home on the Internet » Attitude

When Is Busy Too Busy?

Brooke Long — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:11:06 +0000

Everyone’s lives are busy. We are busy with errands, running the kids everywhere, paperwork, family time but mostly we are busy with work.

I think that we are addicted. Not addicted to drugs, alcohol or smoking. But addicted to being BUSY. We love it. We thrive on it. A lot of people say that they are much more motivated the busier they are. Of course we complain about it, but after a few days of having downtime we all go a little antsy. Oh, who am I kidding – A LOT antsy.

I have been reading a great book: Confident Parenting by Jim Burns. The chapter that I am reading talks all about the importance of taking a Sabbath. I know I know – people don’t have the time to take a whole day, or they can’t take it on Sunday. Well it’s not about all day or Sunday. It’s about taking some time to do what you love, to recharge, to have family time.

The book mentions a couple who takes a Sabbath in the middle of the week. The kids go to school, the couple takes a nice walk together, maybe take a nap, have a nice lunch, and the kids come home and they have family time together. No cell phones, no computers, no work, no laundry, no cooking – just relaxing and recharging.

This sounds great – but a lot of us would have difficulty with this for different reasons. The great thing is that it’s not about taking 24 hours – take 2 hours, take half a day whatever you can and need for your self, your relationship, and your family

Break the business addiction!

Brooke has been a part of the WAHI family since March 2009 writing articles for the WAHM Wisdom section. She has had her own business since 1997, – Cataluña – web sites redesigned from scratch. Her newest business venture is Cataluña Designs – unique beaded hair accessories and jewelry for girls.

Go Badgers!

Brooke Long — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:24:00 +0000

I am seeing red.

I am seeing roses.

I am hearing my 5 year old daughter scream…”GO BADGERS – WINCONSIN WINS!”

That is how we gave thanks this weekend. By having a great time with just the four of us at the Wisconsin VS. Northwestern game.

You see, I see red – I am a Badger through and through. Not because I am from Wisconsin (actually Minnesota), but because I went to college there. And let me tell you – it is THE BEST SCHOOL EVER!

My kids have been to Madison once. (How sad is that.) But I talk about it a lot and I am praying that they choose to attend UW. (As long as they don’t attend the U of M) So we spent time at the school, walked around, bought some Badger gear and had a great time cheering for the Badgers at the game.

I am thinking that this needs to be an annual tradition for our family. We had a great Thanksgiving and felt truly blessed and truly thankful!!

Brooke has been a part of the WAHI family since March 2009 writing articles for the WAHM Wisdom section. She has had her own business since 1997, – Cataluña – web sites redesigned from scratch. Her newest business venture is Cataluña Designs – unique beaded hair accessories and jewelry for girls.

Do You Need Time Away?

Brooke Long — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 11:04:50 +0000

I am in this house all of the time…

I live here.

I work here.

So whenever I get to get out I take it. (Especially with the cold coming upon us.) In the winters everyone just hibernates – and it is REALLY EASY to sink into that warm blanket and just stay inside. But for me I gotta get out.

And it is not just about getting out – it’s about getting away – taking a break. Now I am a stay at home mom and work at home mom – so what could I possible need to get away from? Hmmmm.

EVERYONE THAT LIVES IN THIS HOUSE!

Yes – that means my husband and my two precious children. (Precious while they are sleeping and a FEW rare moments of awake time.) I actually do have a hard time not doing stuff together. If I am gonna take a trip I want to go with them…but sometimes I actually do something for me.

Like this past weekend. A bunch of women got together and ate, drank, talked and laughed. We had the best time! Yes – it was under the guise of scrapbooking – but only 4 of us did that. The others finished other projects that they have been meaning to do and guess what??? They never had the time!

So make sure that you actually take the time that you deserve. I know that it is hard to find the time, and I know that it can be hard to pull yourself away, and I know that it’s getting cold and you may just want to stay in…BUT DO IT ANYWAY!

Brooke has been a part of the WAHI family since March 2009 writing articles for the WAHM Wisdom section. She has had her own business since 1997, – Cataluña – web sites redesigned from scratch. Her newest business venture is Cataluña Designs – unique beaded hair accessories and jewelry for girls.

Busy Is Not Always Good

Brooke Long — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:12:25 +0000

You know how it is…when you aren’t busy you just can’t seem to get things done. Everything is procrastinated and then you are floundering at the end.

Then there are the times when you are busy. You might not like it – because you are so swamped – but you get SOOOOO much done. Like tonight for me…I am getting a bunch of things done early because I know this weekend I have a lot of things that have to get done. It would be very easy to relax tonight seeing that I have been going going GOING. But I am going to get this stuff done so I am not SOOO crazy this weekend.

Getting all kinds of stuff done is the up side of being busy.

But there is a downside.

I actually have to schedule time to relax…time with my friends, to read, whatever! But when I am really busy I can definitely forget to schedule that time. What stinks is when you forget to write down a time that you scheduled.

This week I really hurt my dear friends feelings because I forgot all about “coffee-time.” We meet regularly, but to be fair to myself – we had scheduled this on an “off-week”. But I did still forget.

I like being busy – but I need to slow down a bit. I don’t want to hurt any more feelings. : (

Brooke has been a part of the WAHI family since March 2009 writing articles for the WAHM Wisdom section. She has had her own business since 1997, – Cataluña – web sites redesigned from scratch. She also creates web sites, e-newsletters, blogs, e-commerce sites etc. as well as print collateral including logos.

Give Yourself Credit

Brooke Long — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:12:37 +0000

I am notorious for not giving myself enough credit. I think that I am not smart enough, I am not a hard worker, I don’t see the details…I could go on and on.

Well I am in the process of switching hosting companies for my email. As many of you might know this is NOT a fun or easy process. I have been dreading this for months – especially saving all of my files to my hard drive…ugh!

So yesterday I go on live chat with my new hosting company. (I actually have been there for a while but had my email hosted elsewhere.) I told them that I need to move my email over to them – change the MX or DNS records or whatever. They went through a few things and VOILA! He said 4-12 hours later it would all be working.

4 hours later…not quite but almost.

12 hours later…same thing.

Today…same thing.

I can send but not receive. I tried a few things, checked the port numbers, the server settings etc…nada.

So around 11 I went on live chat to see if I could get this figured out.

Do do do do do do doooooo do do do do DO da do do do do (time going by)

At 3 this was still not handled. I went through 3 techs and they all asked me the same darn questions. I was FURIOUS! I told them that there was something amiss with the DNS but they said they couldn’t see anything. I was LOOKING RIGHT AT IT! I asked them to fix it – they wouldn’t so I hesitantly tried.

Guess what?

IT WORKED!

I knew what I was doing! After all of these years helping clients with web sites and hosting I was right – NOT the tech!

I am a genious! (I am finally giving myself credit!)

Brooke has been a part of the WAHI family since March 2009 writing articles for the WAHM Wisdom section. She has had her own business since 1997, – Cataluña – web sites redesigned from scratch. She also creates web sites, e-newsletters, blogs, e-commerce sites etc. as well as print collateral including logos.