It’s been three weeks since I changed my life.  For those of you wondering what happens when a former software engineer leaves his job and comes home to start his own business (surrounded by his lovely wife and three charming daughters), here it is:  fantastic and frustrating all at the same time. 

The Wyf is a writer and works from home, and we just started homeschooling the geeklets.  To say we have a full house most of the day is an understatement.  The Wyf and I trade off during the day with homeschooling and activities with/for the kids so we can both get some work done The geeklets are pretty good about allowing the ‘off-duty’ parent to work (noise canceling headphones help).  However, it does feel that there is not enough time in the day to get everything done that I want.  I have come to the conclusion that even if I could work 24hrs every day, I would still not get it all done.  Part of the challenge of working from home is that wherever you go, there work is.

The biggest struggle has been setting tasks and deadlines.  I have a list of over 100 things that are all important, and probably a list 20-30 business pursuits I would like to tackle… and who am I to boss myself around.  It’s hard enough for me to keep track of all these tasks, much less prioritize them.  When I was an employee, someone else was in charge of the overall big picture and I just worked away at my smaller picture, my tasks defined by what was due next on the calendar that I didn’t set.  As the business owner, my ability to prioritize will define whether or not I can make the mortgage payment in a few months. I am working with 15 years of employee skills, but my entrepreneur skills are improving every day. Now if I can just make enough to live on… :0). 

I like to use the goal planning techniques of another fellow entrepreneur and dad, David Cheong . I also get great information from a fellow blogger and dad David Risley.

 After three weeks I have to say I can’t imagine going back to a job. Our family loves being together. With both of us working from home now we have a great deal more flexibility. I have been able to spend more time with my beautiful bride and the geeklets–more then I have been able to in a long, long time. Such fantastic conversations and memories already. I am glad I made the decision to do this now and not when the kids were all grown up.

 The future looks bright even if the in-between details seem unsure. Providence has been upon us from the beginning of this journey, so I am continuing my leap of faith.  Now it’s time to just run.

 For more about my journey of starting my own business click here.

The Geek
Solio Deo Gloria  (The SDG Group Inc)

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