Busy, Busy, Busy

If you follow me on twitter you may have caught glimpses of my current state of mind and jam packed life!

Yes there are plans to revamp the room I 'use' as an office that I talked about in my last blog post but unfortunately not for me but for a new addition to our family expected in February. The 'office' will move to a corner of the spare room until said infant is old enough for school and I can up the freelance work again to warrant converting the garage! This news has, of course, opened up lots of questions for my working life.

I went freelance after my son was born so I've had to find out what happens financially. I can claim maternity allowance but will, in effect, have to close my business for the period that I am claiming. You can have up to 10 keep in touch (KIT) days but those are more geared towards attending meetings, training and conferences rather than editing the odd manuscript I should think. This has left me with a dilemma of how to deal with my clients. At present I haven't told any of them of the expected arrival, I'm not sure how long I will want/need to take off work (my OH predicts a week at most) and I'm still smarting from the 3 month work drought after telling them all I would be in Australia for 3 week's holiday back in 2008. Though it feels slightly dishonest I'm inclined not to say anything until the baby is here (and maybe not until I'm ready to start work again) as I have a good network of contacts who I can recommend to clients whilst I am 'too busy'.

I've been quite pleased that work has been trickling in regularly and I've managed to retain some new (non-publishing) clients though the big client of early in the year that occupied most of my time from January to May has now disappeared off the face of the earth (thankfully I did get the final payment from them - eventually). I even managed to juggle my first experience of the 6 week school holidays with relatives visiting, morning sickness and work (plans are definitely in motion to cope better with it next year). A quick look at my accounts show that I'm slightly ahead of this time last year but then scared me as I could also see that I've really only got 3 working months left until baby takes over - not to mention how close Christmas is (oops I said the C word).

I also took on a regional role, rather than just a local one, for the charity that I volunteer for shortly before I found out that I was pregnant. In theory it is a small job but we don't have a full regional team so I feel I should be more involved than I initially signed up for. I like to keep busy ...

My Office

Inspired by a friend's facebook photos I thought I'd share with you - my office. I warn you, it's not for the faint hearted. I'm not a great fan of housework - comes from having a mother who got up at 4am to scrub the house clean before she left for work, and a father who wouldn't let anything touch the surfaces (seriously you daren't put a coffee cup down in their house - I've always thought that they were well suited to the hospitality trade).

So, anyway, back to my office. I have to stress now that this isn't where I work. I did once have a lovely cabin bed/desk set up that had plenty of space to lay out proofs, plenty of storage and the benefit of a bed (2 with the sofa part) for guests. But we were short of money and they were going for £200 on ebay so I had to say goodbye to my desk and settle for an old dressing table.

Clockwise from top left: the desk - containing the (as of last night now broken) PC, screen and keyboard - not much space for proofs; an odd piece of furniture - a seat in the shape of a hand, carved from a tree trunk and part of a set of two that we are 'storing' for my sister-in-law who emigrated to Australia in 2006 - with our old printer balancing precariously on it; my Winnie the Pooh motto 'my spelling is wobbly. It's good spelling but it wobbles and the letters get in the wrong places'; my computer chair - not the z-bed in the background (next scheduled to be occupied at the end of July - eek); essential software; my 'library' - not sure why DIY is with the baby books - perhaps that's why we only have one child; filing and an old TV - I think there is a theme here.

So my 'office' has turned into a dumping ground for unwanted furniture - two hand chairs (very heavy and it hurts when you stub your toe on them), a chest of drawers, a dressing table and a cabinet once used in the bathroom.

Methinks I need to rethink this a bit .....

Need a pep-talk?

Just a quick post - I came across this yesterday and have vowed that when I can get back into our back bedroom (aka the office) again I will print it out and put it on the wall. Failing that I will try to read it at least once a week, or whenever I need a pep-talk. Pay particular attention to point 7.