Balancing work and home with technology is a terrific thing. If you are looking for a way to make it work while a spouse is working out of town, put your technology to work.
A few years ago my husband, Darren, was doing work that required him to travel out-of-state for two weeks at a time and then work at home for two weeks. Our family is a close one. We enjoy each other’s company and like to hang out, laugh, and watch movies and music videos together. So having him gone for extended periods for a long time was hard on all of us. But, I put on my big girl panties and my fake it until I make it (with work) dress and decided to make the best of the situation. I put technology to work and created a workaround.
First I gave my son a pre-paid cell phone and let him text his father as much as he wanted. Even though Darren could not always text back immediately, he would text back when he was able and this made my son feel like he was still in touch with his dad. My teenie bopper already had her own cell phone with unlimited texts and she and her dad had some great conversations throughout the day. My twins got me to send emails to their daddy during the day and liked it when he responded to them later in the day.
Second, and this has a funny story attached, we used Skype. Each morning my husband and I would start a Skype call and as the children woke up they could come and talk with their dad. They all got to see their dad and pray with him before they went to school. At dinnertime, I would put the computer on the kitchen counter and we would all eat dinner together. The kids also had private conversations by taking the laptop with them to another room. It made the children feel better to be able to see their Dad each day.
If you want to read more about technology, check out:
Technology Tip – Use Your Phone as a Personal Organizer – It is terrific to know that you can use your phone as a personal organizer and keep your life in order. Click here to read more.
and
5 Ways to Use Your Technology to Work Smarter -It is terrific to start using your technology to work smarter and not just harder. Click here to read more.
Also, check out our Confidence Tip of the Day YouTube channel for hundreds of videos on creating the confidence you need to succeed.
The funniest thing is that Darren and I would start a Skype call in the evening and each go about doing whatever we had to do. I would write and do household stuff, and Darren would work on his sales stuff. It was nothing fancy, just living life, but being able to see and hear each other. A few times we fell asleep with the call still going on and my teenie bopper walked in because she heard her father snoring. She laughed at us falling asleep together.
If you are a family that has one member who travels for work, use technology to keep your family close and connected. Things like cell phones, text messages, email, and Skype can make the away periods better. So, the question for you this fantastic day is what is your secret for making work travel bearable?
I am glad you found technology, you are such a sweet family.
I was in a long distance relationship for almost 2 years (he was in California, I was in Philly). We used the Google chat feature for that time, and also had a lot of text messages and phone calls. Thank God for technology, or I don’t think it would have worked!
You are so right, technology makes somethings a little less scary!
I totally agree with this!! I remember when my oldest child traveled on her 1st trip by herself and how I was a nervous wreck! Thank goodness for technology! Because of her texts and pictures she sent to me and her phone calls I felt much more at ease. It helped so much!
Technology really is making it easy to work and keep family members, especially kids feeling better about your absence.
I have been travelling a bit for work and blogging things so I have been using Facetime to keep in touch. It does the trick.
-r