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Derek Ralstons last blog post..When Predicting Happiness, Your Imagination is Wrong

Dead accurate. It’s vital to create a workstation that’s physically separate from the rest of the household, if the available space allows for it at all. It doesn’t have to be partitioned, but it should be visually distinct enough so that when you’re sitting there, it’s obvious to others (not to mention yourself) that you’re working.

I’m a big believer in scheduling personal activities as methodically as professional ones. If you’re not spending enough time with loved ones, quantify your idea of “enough,” block that time in your calendar, and honor it the same way you would your work.

Andre Kibbes last blog post..Six Reasons to Use Text Messages Instead of Voice Calls

Kristens last blog post..Just Don’t Think About It

In the near future I’ll write about ways to set barriers between work at home when you work at home, but I suspect the reversal will happen as gradually as the original change did. In other words, you won’t see it while it’s happening, but it’ll be happening nonetheless.

@ Kelly: Glad to see you’re back! I think science has come a long way to recognizing those connections – and I think it would have come much further if we, as humans, didn’t try to distance us so much from our physical natures.

What I mean is that moods, productivity, and interactions are all chemical based, and as there become regularities in our chemicals, there become regularities in the other things, as well. Simple things like waking up at the same time, eating meals on schedule, working for set times, interacting at set times, etc. stabilize those chemicals. The mental-physical interplay is amazingly complex, on the one had, but amazingly simple at the same time.

I think most of the differences between what mothers and fathers contribute is socially based. For instance, our society socializes men differently than it does women when it comes to physical interactions. Women (and, by default, mothers) are more physically affectionate, and we know that hormones that stimulate bonding behaviors are passed through touching. So mothers play more of the hub of the home because they’ve shared the chemicals with everyone in the family more than fathers (statistically speaking) have. It doesn’t help that men don’t produce as much of these hormones as women do, either.

We’ll talk offline about the limits of being a working parent. The short answer is that you can’t be a full-time parent and a full-time worker, too. Some compromises have to be made.

And to really ramble here, I wonder if “science” is someday going to do a much better job of defining the invisible connections and rhythms that link people, and what it’ll say about parent-kid dynamics, and — to venture into highly controversial waters — whether there are differences between what moms and dads contribute. Somehow it seems that the mom is often the family time keeper and pace setter.

I am currently struggling with the limits of what I as a working parent can accomplish. Maybe I just need to be working on a really good “to do in the next stage of life” list. Would welcome productive flourishing insights.

Kelly

Kellys last blog post..Rites of Passage

I know my son deserves better and I’ll regret it if I don’t make some changes. Only thing is I am a bit stuck on how to bring about this change in a meaningful way. One step at a time? I always tell myself this even when I have no idea where my foot is going to land.

Cheers
Kelly