Archives > April 1, 2009

A Typical Day For Arlene In Her Home Office

By Arlene Martell

Hello everyone, Arlene here.

Jamie asked me to put together a list of things I do on a regular basis to give people and idea of a typical routine for a work-at-home mom.

I had never really thought of my situation as being that unique, but as I typed up my list it occurred to me I’m quite lucky to work from home.

I mean, how many mothers get to take a few hours out of a busy work day to join their daughter at the local health club to take in a ladies fitness class?

And I’m so accustomed to having Scamp lounging on my desk, providing comfort while I work, that I never think that most working people are usually far removed from family life as they pursue their careers or do their jobs.

So here goes.

Not surprisingly, with two pets in the house, their needs are taken care of first. Both Scamp (the cat) and Lilly (the dog) get fed.

Then it’s Victoria’s turn for breakfast, followed by driving her to school. That’s always fun!

Once back home I check voicemail then fire up the computer to do email.

I usually have a few voicemails from those inquiring about the SUPER BootCamp, our latest and most comprehensive training, or from a member who lost their password.

In my Inbox there is usually a mix of SUPER BootCamp inquiries, new subscriptions to the www.epilepsymoms.com newsletter, sales for my eBook, GETTING ADAM BACK, notifications from merchants for sales off the EpilepsyMoms site, questions about a whole range of things, PayPal notifications, inquiries for James, etc.

That whole routine usually takes about an hour.

Of course, throughout the day I’m involved with answering the phone and responding to email, as well.

I guess I could break down my day into EpilepsyMoms tasks, SUPER BootCamp tasks and family.

Here’s a brief overview in bullet form of what I do in each area:

EpilepsyMoms:

• Respond to news posts in the chat forum. This part I love. For the most part the entries are very positive and heartwarming. I’m so grateful to James for pushing me to build this site.

• Confirm new guests for my Podcasts, research my guests to develop a logical line of questioning, arrange the conference calls for each, and publish announcements to the site once things are firmed up.

• Answer questions from my team of writers, double check their work; give them additional story lines for upcoming articles.

• Edit and prepare my upcoming newsletter.

SUPER BootCamp:

• Set up new members with a welcome email, site login details, encourage them to introduce themselves to other members in the forum and ask for a picture so I can upload it for them.

  • NOTE: our SUPER BootCamp attendees are called “members” because they get access to our Private Members Area where they retrieve their weekly lessons, get access to the schedule for James’s Live Q&A and Coffee Talk interviews, access to the forum, the archives and a whole lot more.

• Update calendar of events.

• Coordinate Jamie’s Coffee Talk guests, book the conference call with Voicetext.com.

• Send Private Members notification email to remind them of upcoming live Q&A and Coaching Sessions or Coffee Talk interviews.

Family:

• Keep track of the kid’s schedules. (work schedules, -- 3 of the four are working; college schedule for Shelby who goes to school in addition to holding down 2 jobs, camp for Adam as well as a very busy social schedule with his group, and Victoria’s schedule; who is quite an ambitious young lady who at 13 works part time and just loves it. NOTE: I used to do Justin’s schedule but he’s doing quite well on his own these days having just been promoted to a high paying assistant manager’s job at the local London Drugs electronics and computer department after which he took his own apartment a few blocks away. James and I are both proud of him.

• Play taxi to Adam & Victoria.

• Housework, laundry, groceries & meals.

• Staying on top of Jamie’s mom who is in a home and needs to know she is not forgotten.

• Planning and preparing our traditional Sunday dinner so all of us can get together periodically. As the kids get older I realize how precious it is to see them all sitting down together for a nice home cooked meal. This is a favorite routine for James as well, since it seems they are growing up fast.

A few things I like to do on a weekly basis is to get a relaxing Shiatsu massage, go out for lunch with a girlfriend, and make plans with James for our next “breakation” (this is a short getaway we like to do at least every 6 weeks to stay refreshed).

A very fun part of my routine is joining my oldest daughter, Shelby, at the local gym for the “She’s Fit” class. We try to go at least once a week.

It’s great to mix family and work into my routines. I couldn’t imagine it any other way. So, if you’ve been dreaming about a work-at-home lifestyle then I encourage you to give it a try.

All the best,

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