Now my motto is: Set it and forget it! (Where have I heard that before?)

It really seemed too simple a solution to solve what had become an overwhelming problem: how to fit all work I have to do, need to do, must do, and wish to do into one twenty-four hour period and still have any time left to do anything halfway resembling "fun." (What's that, anyway?)

But fact of matter is that it IS just that SIMPLE! First, I get all of routine out of way: shower, exercise, grooming, prayer or meditation, breakfast, etc.

Finally at computer, I set timer—usually for half an hour. When it "dings" I get up and maybe transfer some laundry to dryer. (I'm one of those rare and lucky women who is married to an exceptional man who usually at least starts laundry, and on a daily basis, so we never have laundry piled up.)

Since you've been spending so much time with your new home computer, is your family showing signs of jealousy? Do they compete with this inhuman time hog for your time? Or, at least, do they FEEL they have to?

And what can you do about it? After all, you're just trying to make everything better .. . I mean, look at it this way, if you can just find a way to generate an automatic income from 'net, SOMEDAY you'll be able to quit your outside job and be home with them all time, right?

So they should be understanding and go with flow ... these things take time, you know ...

You know it, and I know it, but do THEY know it? And what's more, do they really understand that, after all, computer is just a means of communicating with other people and a tool to make money with—for all of you? And do they really believe that "one day" you will be free to spend more time with them than they really want anyway?

Things were a little tense at our house—and, lucky me, I have only a husband to consider (our ten children are grown)—until I finally worked out a happy and very workable solution to it all.

My husband is semi-retired, so he is around house quite a lot—even more than I am. So when I am home, he enjoys having my full attention .. . don't get me wrong here ... I enjoy his just as much. It's just that, for now, computer/internet has to be allotted large chunks of my time, if I'm ever going to achieve my goal of financial independence via same—for both of us.

And we all know that, if you have children at home, they usually demand (and deserve) an even larger chunk of your time than your mate does.

However, whatever size of your family . . . TA-DAAAAAAAAA........it matters not. What DOES matter is that YOU are only person in your family who has power to work out this dilemma and get things under control .. . before you emerge from your home office one day and find no one is left to care if you stay in there all day or not!

Here's plan:* Get yourself a kitchen timer and set it for one hour.

* Work at your computer for that hour.

* When timer goes off, allow yourself one minute to finish up whatever you are doing.

* Then GET UP and GET AWAY from computer.

* Spend next fifteen minutes or so DOING SOMETHING with your family—one or all of them.

* WHAT you do isn't as important as fact that you ARE doing something with THEM!