February 24th, 2010
WAHM Wednesday: Working Alone
I had a semi-productive day today. I got work done for a couple of clients, put together a newsletter and watched some speed skating!
Around 4 pm I was really feeling the lack of grown up conversation and gave my BFF a call at work. I’m jealous that she can keep getting paid while I bug her on the phone, lol, and she probably wishes she could work in her pj’s! Despite the whole grass is greener thing though, today I gave a lot of thought to the fact of how hard it is to work alone so much of the time. I’m pretty sure that over time I will get out to work more, but essentially I don’t see my business ever leading me to be a super social person. Most of my work requires me to really concentrate while at my computer, which doesn’t exactly lead to conversations even if you are working at Starbucks.
Sometimes I’m super grateful for the chance to work alone. I used to hate being interrupted at work by a chatty colleague right when I was getting down to business. But on the other hand sometimes I loved having someone to share things with, both work and personal. So now, while I have plenty of online interaction opportunity, I miss working with other people. I miss conversations that are NOT about Mario, Luigi or any other character in a Wii Mario Bros. game. I miss grabbing a quick coffee during a break, instead of having my toddler beg for a sip of my instant decaf. I think next year when two kids are in school I’m going to have to work harder at getting out of the house!!
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Today I had a couple of meetings and I noticed how different it felt to shower and put on a pair of dress slacks. I’m so disconnected from the girl who used to dress in suits every day for work!
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LOL! It’s only been a couple of years since I had to dress for work, but I totally feel out of the loop on it!
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Too much of the same thing brings boredom. What don’t you try joining some organizations in you community, I think it will fill your social needs. 
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Thanks Walter for your comment. Volunteering or other community organizations can be a great thing to be involved in, but with 3 kiddos and little childcare it’s not the easiest commitment to make!
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Being at home on maternity leave, I know exactly what you’re talking about. My husband sometimes jokes how often I call him during the day, but the reality is that while my two-year old is bright he is unable of having a grown up conversation lol. I also find that I’m having more conversations with people in line at the grocery store than I ever did before
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Laughing Erin, because while I can’t call my husband at work (darn oilfield without phones!) I do have a tendency to try and start conversations with everyone I meet – grocery clerks who are remotely polite, strangers walking in the neighborhood, doesn’t matter, I just love being able to talk to someone!
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One of the major perks of being back to work after maternity leave is knowing there is someone in the office next door to chat to whenever I want (or almost!). I’ve never had the pleasure of working from home outside of random days here and there. I suspect I would struggle with the loneliness of it. I’m a chatter by nature. At least with your blog you get some banter
P.S. LOVE the new design. So pretty!
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