A Day in Life of a Writer, Mom, Wife, Business Owner, Employer, and Giants Fan

The life of a consultant is a glamorous one (or so I'm told).  I thought I'd share the details of a day to illustrate that glamor.

6:30 a.m. - The alarm goes off. I grab it and turn it off (the snooze button is for wimps) and roll over, pretending I didn't hear it.

7:00 a.m. - My husband's alarm goes off.  He bounds out of bed, moves quickly to the kitchen and is back in a few minutes with a cup of coffee (for him) that he nurses as he turns on the light and the TV (for morning news). I don't like him very much at this moment, so I decide it's a good time to say my morning prayers. I ask for guidance for my day, and I pray for my husband, my boys, my extended family, friends, our nation's leaders, and the San Francisco Giants (not necessarily in that order). Within moments the day starts to look better.

7:30 a.m. - Husband is getting 6 year old up and ready for school. I wonder if I really need to go to work today.  Isn't today a national holiday somewhere? My lofty thoughts are interrupted by the buzzing of my cell phone as two text messages come through.  The first is from an employee who won't be at work today (Darn it! I knew there was a holiday somewhere!) and the second is from an employee who will be late today.  I decide I should get up.

7:35 a.m. - I get a call on my cell from a client.  Is this a good time to talk?  Sure, just be patient while I spit out toothpaste and ignore me if I poke my eye out while trying to put on mascara and hold the phone at the same time.

8:15 - I arrive at the office. With disappointment, I notice that no one has cleaned off my desk or paid any bills over night. Do I have to do everything?  Sheesh....

9:00 a.m. - After reading and dealing with about 100 e-mails, I pull out the most recent project I'm working on, a final evaluation report for a 4 year school safety project.  Progress is slow on this project because there is so much information to process. Over the next two hours, I am interrupted about 20 times by phone calls from clients, questions from employees, and numerous other distractions. Hmmm...maybe that is another reason why progress on this project is slow...?

12:00 noon - I notice that I am about 6 pages ahead on the report I'm working on, but I have written several other things in the last few hours - objectives and an agenda for a grant writing workshop I'll be teaching in a couple of weeks, a budget justification for a client's grant in response to some questions posed by the federal program officer, a blog post, an email to my son's teacher, a couple of client contracts, a few Facebook and Twitter updates, and a letter to my aunt. I begin to wonder if maybe my son is not the only one in the family with ADHD.

1:00 p.m. - I wander out of my office to check on the rest of the staff and see what everyone is working on. Some are out at lunch. One is on the phone with her child's school. One is laughing at a YouTube video. I begin to think I should venture out of my office more often. Rather than get lost in calculating how much money I'm paying for people not to work, I decide to hand out some assignments instead. As I notice my attitude is not as good as it should, I decide that this is a good time for another brief prayer session.  Because I'm at work and short on time, I cut to the chase and just pray for guidance, patience, and the Giants.  The rest will have to wait until later. Before I sign off, I ask God to please do something about my desk and the bills. He parted the Red Sea, made blind men see, cured leprosy - my desk and my bills should be a snap for Him.

2:20 p.m. - Afternoon productivity panic sets in. I close my office door and get serious about that evaluation report. I close Facebook and Twitter.  I close out my email. I turn off Pandora. I start focusing and making good progress, until.......

3:00 p.m. - The gardener shows up and starts using every noise-making gardening instrument known to man - lawn mower, weed whacker, leaf blower. I wonder how anyone kept their landscaping looking nice before the invention of these tools. Did Ernest Hemingway have to deal with this when he was trying to write?  Probably not, but he had other issues.  I think that's why he drank.

3:25 p.m. - Rhythmically pounding my head on the desk chanting, "Focus, focus, focus....."

3:45 p.m. - I realize I haven't had lunch yet. I forage in the freezer for a bagel dog.

4:30 p.m. - My staff leaves for the day just as I start to make some serious progress on my project for the day. I settle in for some great work time - no phone calls, no interruptions.

6:00 p.m. - My phone rings.  It's my husband asking when I'll be home and what's for dinner.  I refrain from suggesting what he can do with dinner.  Instead, I respond sweetly that I'll leave the office now and be home soon.

6:20 p.m. - I rush in the front door at home, drop my purse and computer case, grab my 6-year-old and whisk him into our home office.  We have homework and reading to get done before first pitch in the Giants game at 7:15. While he's getting his backpack, I dash into the kitchen and grab something from the freezer to throw into the microwave, wishing that I had gotten up just a little earlier this morning so I would have had time to get something in the crock pot. (Ohhhhhh!  That's why the alarm was set for 6:30!). Then I run back to my son and start supervising homework while trying to listen to the Giants pre-game show on TV in the other room.  Every now and then, my husband shouts out critical information - tonight's lineup, who's on the DL today, starting pitchers, etc. Suddenly, it seems like my son is intentionally working slower, even though I know he's not.

7:10 p.m. -  Homework is finally done and it's time to read with my son a bit.  I can hear the lineups being announced on TV for the game.  I ask my son to pick a book for us to read.  I secretly pray he'll pick something short like Clifford. He picks The Velveteen Rabbit. I tell him we'll read fast, like a bunny, tonight.  I can hear first pitch come....and go....while I read and snuggle with the sweet little love of my life.  I decide I'd rather slow this down.  The game doesn't matter so much anymore.

7:30 p.m. - I serve dinner and get ready to settle in to watch the game when my cell phone rings.  It's a client.  Is this a good time to chat?  Sure, just ignore my occasional shouts of "Hey Blue!  Can't you see?"

8:00 p.m. Phone call is done.  My food is cold.  Game is continuing without me.  It's time to get the little one ready for bed. I move through that routine while my husband shouts updates from the game.  I'm starting to not like him very much again so it's a good time for prayer.

8:30 p.m. - Back to the game. I pull out my laptop and start working on that evaluation report while I watch. The phone rings twice more before the game is over at 10:00 - two clients, each of whom wants "just a minute."  I lose 3 full innings of the game.

10:00 p.m. - The Giants won!  I say a prayer of thanks.  I knew it was good to add the Giants to my morning prayers. Since God is clearly on my side, I wonder if this means my desk and bills will be taken care of, too.

10:05 p.m. - Husband announces he's going to bed.  The game must have exhausted him. I say goodnight and get back to work. The next hour is the most productive of the day.

11:20 p.m. - I check in with Facebook, read a few blogs I like to follow, and answer some emails before I decide it's time to take a shower and get to bed.

12:00 midnight - My head hits the pillow. I say a prayer of gratitude - for the amazingly wonderful life I lead, for my family, for my health, for the Giants' victory.  I set the alarm for 6:30 a.m., snuggle up with my husband and drift off to sleep thinking about what I have to do tomorrow.

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