More Time Please

By Allison Berman
February 16, 2010

I had this fantasy that being a work-at-home mom meant part of the time I could be a mom, wife and homemaker; part of the time I could focus on my career; and part of the time I could take care of me. The reality is I am always a mom, and a wife, and a homemaker. Part of the time, I am able to figure out a way to simultaneously focus on my career. And I have redefined "me time," for the most part, as time I spend working on my career.

When I was little, I used to have plenty of time - time I wasted watching "He-Man" and "The Facts of Life." Now I feel like, no matter what I do, there is never enough time!

I used to get paid to come up with and execute strategic marketing plans B.C. (Before Children), and yet, for the most part, I have sat back and watched my business grow virally (because I haven't had the time to plan growth). And the irony is that I believe in large part I owe my business's growth to the simple fact that I give my customers the thing I want most in my life: time.

I keep a handy-dandy spreadsheet with the smallest details about my customers so they can shoot me an e-mail asking for a "girl gift," and I know they want "a lavender and light blue peg rack with paper dolls."

I provide the service I would love someone to provide for me. I save people time. Time they can spend getting more done at work. Time they can spend with their family and friends. Time they can spend doing absolutely nothing if they are so inclined. Something all busy people can appreciate, regardless of what is keeping them so busy. Time is certainly something we all wish we had more of.

I used to think I would have time again when I got older, that it would be like it was when I was a child. But, as it turns out, as you get older, the things that keep you busy change, but there still isn't enough time. A 65-year-old retired customer who orders gifts for all of her friends' grandchildren was recently talking to me about turning one of her "children's old bedrooms into an artist's studio like mine."

Her hesitation? "I am busy helping my mother, and I travel to see my children and grandchildren, so even though I would love to do it, there just isn't time right now."

If only I could figure out a way to get back the hours we wasted when we were young. Now that would be a business.

Allison Berman, an artist and mother of two, handpaints custom home accessories for interior designers and private customers. She works out of her home studio in Warwick, NY. See her collection at www.withlovealib.com. She can be reached at ali@withlovealib.com. Her column appears Tuesdays.