We have had a few changes in the office here at My Sunshine Coast Life recently. I have been off & on crook (the flu this year is a shocker), and at the same time in recent months our site traffic has gone up a lot more then the normal monthly increases we expect, and so has the workload that results from that, sometimes taking us over a week to even answer email that is coming in. We all sat around and had a bit of a think as to how we were going to cope?

The normal scenario is hire more staff, unfortunately we work on a custom built programme, so did not have time to train someone else. We also have the issue that we are a family business so that can be hard for someone to walk into without time spent on the airy fairy Human Resources 'welcome' type stuff (we don't have time for that at the moment). The law won't allow us to make our daughter under-age slave labour (which is a shame, she is great with graphics LOL!), so basically we had to be a little more creative work-wise...

So we have cut our office hours. Yep, since the weather is getting warmer, we lock up shop at 3pm and hit the beach. We Wish! 12 hours a day 6 days a week is more the reality UGH! A few people have been confused recently when they phone us and have to leave a message before 9am & after 3pm, thinking we are working bank hours LOL! That was our solution, cut down the amount of 'phone' hours.

You know what? It has been brilliant, we are so much more productive, less stressed in our various work roles, and have even found that you have the energy to actually be creative instead of just trying to get to last weeks email. Sometimes you wonder how we all get indoctrinated as to how business should be run. With the whole daylight savings debate, where everyone is arguing over what hours should be kept, there is nothing stopping companies like ours (of which there are many nowadays), that are net based, small, family owned or regional based, that don't have a retail face or shop front as such operating the hours they wish to be productive, or god forbid in some cases of small business, actually have a life...

Obviously the majority of businesses can't do what we have done, though on the Coast here there is an awful lot of small and home business, who, contrary to popular belief, aren't sitting around in their PJ's on the computer in the rumpus room cruising while you are at work, they actually tend to work horrendous hours, and worse, you can't blame the boss for it, when the buck stops with you. Trying to balance your business, your family, and all other normal life pressures can be really hard. Our experiment has worked brilliantly for us, so maybe if you are in a similar situation you should think about stepping back from the business in front of your face, think a little outside the box, and maybe you can improve your work situation too, we don't all have to be the 'norm'. Best luck doing that if you can :)

Best Wishes, Noely, Community Site Co-ordinator