Last week I made a decision that I can only describe as “adult”: I gave up my work-from-home Fridays. Though I loved having one day a week where I could sit in front of my home computer sipping coffee all day, it’s been pretty clear for a while now that I am not very productive on those days. I seem to do best when I have a mixture of office work and freelance work: it’s much easier for me to work at the office for five hours a day and then come home and do a few hours of freelancing than it is to sit at home all day and try to be productive for a solid eight hours. My supervisor was totally on board with having me in the office five days a week, so today, for the first time in a long time, I dragged myself out of bed before 8:00 on a Friday morning and actually showered before noon. (I stopped at Starbucks on the way to work as a reward for my effort.)

As a result of my new work schedule, I’ve had a couple of very high-dollar days, and my highest overall week since July (my migraine-inducing workaholic days). I don’t even feel at all overworked, and look — I even have enough energy left to write a blog post! I even put in some time this week at the new house pulling up carpet staples. And it’s only Friday! (Normally I put in some time over the weekend to boost my figures, but that probably won’t happen this week as the entire weekend will be devoted to sanding and refinishing the hardwood floors in the house.)

My other great development this week is that my part-time employer gave me permanent status after nearly six months as a temp. My pay and hours are the same, but now I have full benefits. Full benefits! Which means, not only do I get to spend a portion of each day at home writing and doing web content management, but I no longer have to worry about working on holidays, or what happens if I get sick or I want to take a vacation. I feel really lucky, and I’m really excited to see what I can accomplish when the home renovation and moving is behind us and things get back to normal (if there is such a thing!).