What's Being Read the Most...

Thursday, November 9, 2006

Myspace Migration: Champagne Thursday Begins...

Current mood:productive
Ok. I am plum wore out! I think I owe several people apologies, because there are a lot of calls I haven't taken or returned in the evenings this week. Seriously though, folks, I have just been mentally exhausted this week by the time 8pm rolls around. It's like I turn into this walking zombie or something. Or, like two nights ago, I just flat out fall asleep.

I was concerned, mildly anyway, and then I remembered it was like this when I started the residential practice two years ago. I'd go to work, come home and work some more, Beau would light the candles on the coffee table and honestly just leave me alone while I was either working or staring at the candles like a vegetable. Fortunately, he was all into his computer game so I wasn't really neglecting him. I just had to pour all my energy into creating the infastructure for the search practice - so come the end of the day, mental acuity was gone and mental dullness reigned supreme. Much like a pencil that had been used all day without being sharpened.

So now, two years later, I'm starting a new practice in addition to maintaining the pulse of residential (which I'll concede is fairly weak these days). My mind is really wholly focused on getting an in into Chicago's Women in Real Estate, learning my way around CREC, and memorizing the BUMA website. Do I have every developer in my database? Do I know what the big projects in Chicago are? What does the delay in Nicky O's hotel mean to the development world, or does it?? Who are the big dogs in this business that I need to be talking to? What positions even comprise the placable workforce for these companies?? Anyway, you get my point, I'm learning how to roll in this world. I've got a stack of books, magazines, web sites, business journals, scads of notepads and gallons of coffee. Which, at 6am, I'm already well past my coffee quotient for the day and ready for a nap.

I don't know how my personal life is going to fit into this. When I did this last time, I was in a semi-committed relationship; so, I really didn't have to focus on how to fit in dates. I didn't see my friends (unless you count Beau's brother, who was one of my best friends at the time) and my kids had a nanny. This time, I am dating and have met one or two people I don't want to lose track of during this "start-up" period. I have friends I not only want to see, but really need to so that the newly formed tendrils of friendship don't break. And, most importantly, this time around I have no nanny and I have a very different mindset on what makes good parenting. I can't just ignore my kids all evening for work. So last night I decided to give this a whirl (when I realized I had worked through their bedtime): I'm trying to set a rule where 2 nights a week I do no work until after they're in bed (Tues. Wed) and then the other three nights, try to do things that don't have me at my computer with my back to them. Like putting on a kids movie and reading a business journal while we're watching it (I've got all their movies practically memorized, anyway). Then, putting the business journal down and playing a game with them before bed. Then, on the weekends, I'm just going to have to dedicate a few more hours to work. Which, given the time of day I wake up and the time of day I'm used to going to bed, shouldn't be all that difficult.

This will be the first Champagne Thursday in a long time that I will not only not be talking to my girlfriends (I know, poor sentence structure), but will not be having champagne as well. Maybe a glass of red wine as I'm working, but it doesn't really feel like a champagne kind of day

No comments:

Post a Comment