Finding my lost marbles - the roller coaster ride of a work at home mom
May 21st, 2008 by admin
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here - I’m not blog constipated this time though. It’s just been - well, life and more specifically “internet life”. I seriously hit a wall and felt like I was losing or lost all my marbles when it came to working from home.
I’ve threatened to “throw in the towel” before - with this whole internet business game. It’s a lot of WORK even though many people claim you can “build it and the money will start rolling in”. It takes work to build it AND it takes even more work to keep it profitable. Yeah you can make some money in your sleep through passive income but that means that your waking hours need to be full of hard work, keeping on top of the changes and curve balls - and just … more WORK.
Mind you, I’m not afraid of work. In fact, for the most part I love it and thrive on it. My direct sales business definitely requires me to work many hours during the day - and that’s really fine because not only am I making money but I’m also, hopefully, helping some other people bring in a little extra cash too.
I guess I really never truly realized what a game this whole internet business stuff is. Just when I finally “get” something - the rules change and another learning curve is ahead of me. I love to learn but when time is limited sometimes I just want to be “done” with a project for a while and reap the rewards. I feel like I’m always building and it’s never ready to move in.
And so the marbles started rolling - first a few on my desk - sparkley ones that made me say “hmmm…where’d that come from?” Then more and more until finally my brain pretty much exploded and said “I can’t take it anymore!”
So I retreated - I didn’t disappear but definitely have pulled away from some stuff that I was doing just to spend some time collecting the lost marbles again. I’ll probably pull back for a while longer until I can find some of those nice sparkly ones that started rolling early on… those were the ones that made me smile.
Have you ever lost your marbles?
LOL, I’ve never described it quite that way, but yes I’ve lost my marbles before. Feeling a bit like that right now actually, so I understand completely! Hope you find your marbles soon… miss seeing you on twitter!
I can definitely relate, Annette! Retreating and refocusing is a good thing
I lose my marbles on a regular basis. Internet work is not as easy as everyone says, and just like you said, you invest tons of time, and then something changes or you lose your ranking or whatever.
Take some you time and come back when you feel better about it! And you can work on those internet projects you like. We will still be here.
Oh yes….especially now. I’ve started to put on some weight and was wondering out loud to my family about why that was happening.
My son said “I know why, you’re spending too much time on the computer.”
You know what he’s right. Because I work both outside the home and at home - on those days when I’m home we usually spend more time together. I started my internet business almost exactly one year ago. While I’ve had a home business before, nothing was so tied to the computer as my current business. So my family has noticed a real change in my computer habits over the last year.
My body has too. So I don’t know if I’ve lost my marbles (this time) but I find every so often I have to shake myself - check to see how I can work a little differently. I feel a little overwhelmed with all the wonderful choices, options and opportunities for building traffic etc. Sometimes when I get overwhelmed I dig in even harder so that I can “get a handle on things.” I finally realized I just need to be more patient and I have to learn to RESIST more.
I don’t have to learn, grasp, adjust and master everything today. And I don’t have to feel I’m falling behind if I don’t get all 100 things on my to-do list done. That’s what I’ve learned…take every thing in stride…move-away-from-the-computer…and keep perspective.
I’ve missed you on twitter. I am so glad you posted…because I was wondering what you were up to and how you were doing. Hugs Annette!
I wondered where you have been lately.
I am glad you were able to put that into more eloquent words than I do when I am feeling the same way… lost, overwhelmed, confused and unmotivated. When I have days like that I walk away from the desk, go outside and sit on my swing in the sun for a bit. Ideas and excitement start flowing again, amazing how it works for me. I even take a notebook with me so I won’t forget any of the thoughts.. Maybe we should add “sit in sun” to our daily To Do lists.
Yes I have. And I finally have restructed my business so that I don’t get lost in the internet game. I was getting lost in all the “build an empire - offer everything you niche needs” stuff and it was overtaking my life. It just isn’t for me. It was draining me and my family. I’m so much happier now.