Stay at home/work from home (moms)

[Crazy8s]

Are there any moms or others who either stay at home or work from home who are struggling with prioritizing and overwelm/anxiety? When I was going to work every day I found I could manage my time and keep my home clean so much easier. Now I’m working on my part time job, trying to maintain a single hobby of my own, parenting, cleaning, paying bills, remembering and scheduling everything for the family. I’m often running in circles and not getting anything done. I stay up late all night the night before I have something due. How do you manage your time when your days are unstructured? Or when you’re taking care of a child? Any tips? Thanks!

[SueMedrano]

Oh yeah. I'm a mom of a 16 year old, and there was a big change that took hold a few years ago when I switched to full time telecommuting, and over time also subtle changes in my job decreased the amount of work I had that easily kept my day driven (in a good way) by my hyper focus engine. My job involved solving problems, and if the problems were in my sweet spot of challenging but not overwhelming, hyper focus was my autopilot that gave a large part of my day structure and made me productive and content. And that made the rest of my responsibilities manageable. Without the face to face interaction with my manager and colleagues it took a lot of effort to keep it all together. I just got diagnosed with ADD recently, when my teen was assessed, and now treatment has started and things are getting much better. The medication has helped by giving me back several hours each day of feeling like I can manage my time and get things done, so its like a catalyst to get me started in the process of working out new workarounds, finding where I can use my strengths to counter the tendencies that make me feel defeated or overwhelmed when they spin out of control. Treatment now is for me like putting on the oxygen mask first before I help put the mask on my child.