CrAzY Schedule

OK, so I'm not complaining. Well, maybe a little bit. Not about what you might think, though.

So a couple of months ago, I was approached by an aquaintance who just happens to be the IT manager of a company, and they needed some help with some projects that just happen to be right up my alley, so I signed on as a consultant. The money's great, and it didn't seem like a huge commitment since the original agreement was about 10 hours per month, give or take, depending on the projects they have me help out on. So I did some math in my brain and thought, "that's only about 2.5 hours per week". So I figured I'd go in and work once or twice per week for 1-2 hours each time. Or something like that. However I did it, 10 hours per month didn't seem like much of a time commitment.

Toward the end of last month, they got me working on a project that has an upcoming deadline. It's kind of a big project (especially with the "fiasco" of trying to get information I need for the project, but I won't get into that right now). Having one big project to work on is better schedule-wise for me than having to be introduced to new little projects over time, because when it's something new, or if I have to work with someone on it, I have to be there more during business hours, which means I have to rearrange my normal, full-time job's schedule.

Anyway, so this project has gotten bigger than the original scope of the project, largely because of some bad data that I have to work with, but I have worked over 18 hours this month already! And it's only the 13th! Every day, I leave my regular job, head to this consulting gig, and try to get some work done.

Again, the money's good. Which is why I'm doing it. With it we are able to get ourselves into a more comfortable financial position.

But it seems like I've given up a heck of a lot of family time. I used to come home early on Wednesdays so my wife (a cub scout den mother) could do cub scouts unhindered by our other children. I've not been able to help out with that the last 2 weeks because I've had to work. A number of times, I've left at 7-7:30 in the morning and gotten home after 8 at night, just in time to go in to the kids' bedrooms to say goodnight. The other night, my wife had a meeting, so I went from my regular job, straight to this other place, got home in just enough time for her to leave to go to her meeting, and then after she got back, I went back there and was there until almost midnight.

So if you've been wondering why there are no new posts lately, that's why.

But anyway, I keep telling myself that "the money's good" and "it's only until we meet this upcoming deadline", but I worry that this is going to continue, because I'm aware of at least a couple of other things that are waiting for me after this. At my regular job, I have enough stuff to do to keep me busy for 6 months straight if nothing new was added to my project list. This consulting thing is already starting to look like that, and I'm only supposed to work 10 hours per month!

We'll see how it goes. I am wanting to prioritize my time a little better so I don't skip out on as much time with my family. I don't mind the number of hours I spend. I can handle that, especially with how I know it's helping my family. And while I wasn't gone this much when I was in the bishopric, I'm not gone as much as when I was doing full time work and full time school. And I have more to show for it at the end of the month.

I guess there's not much to do but plug away and try to keep this schedule thing under control. Wish Me Luck!