100 Business Days Out: Day 39 - Encroachment?

Everyone likes to ask, “how are you and Patti handling you being home…is she ready to throw you out of the house yet?” Luckily for me the answer is, "not yet". What I have come to realize is that the clear lines we had prior on what each of our household tasks were is beginning to blur. Back in the day when we both were working we had defined sets of responsibilities. We used to say to each other that certain chores/areas had either a “P” or a “V”. As you can imagine, the “P’s” were mostly outside and structural. The “V’s” were inside or related to the recurring tasks; housecleaning, finances, etc.. And then when we moved to California and Patti stopped working she basically picked it all up while I went away and toiled through the day. But now that I am home and in and out of the house throughout the day, certain things are creeping back in to my set of responsibilities. And it comes subtely It is a “can you talk to the gardener about this”, or “can you be home to watch Louis”, etc. Not big things, but things nonetheless. The things that when people say, “I have never been busier” are part of what encroaches on all that time you think you are going to have. What I have learned, even in this short amount of time is that just like in business a well defined set of boundaries and shared responsibilities is the best recipe for conflict free accomplishment of tasks and objectives. So as soon as I am done with chasing the gardener down to find out why he is four weeks late on laying down the wood ships, I will have to set up a meeting with Patti. ;)