Separating Home & Work Life...

[Andy Trish]

That was Ray working from home, on a Saturday.

I agree Tigglet, dragging yourself away "to get a life" is really hard when every minute of the day you are thinking either this needs to be done or if I did that would it make things better. A1 for me is my welcome break, I've just pooped in to say hello now I'm off to spend the rest of the day writing Microsoft Licensing information for my webpage in preparation for my nomination for the Worldwide awards in July.

Nicky your Tesco man must love you, like Fuzz's postman and window cleaner!

I'm lucky, when I need a break I've got my doggy who rests her head on my leg to tell me its her time.

[Chubster]

My other half only recognises me when I spray my face silver and slap a big Dell logo on my nose !

[MSC]

I know the feeling! When I go into town for anything I think I overcompensate by chatting a bit too long to the sales staff in shops, they must see me coming and think 'here comes that nutter who doesn't get out much again'

[Sue]

I've recently had to have a really stern word with myself to take some me time.
(In my head ... I haven't resorted to having full blown conversations with myself ...
At least not quite yet!)

I love working from home and thoroughly enjoy running the business but it is a 24/7 thing isn't it.

Hubby is actually turning out to be more of a slave driver than my last manager at HMRC :sad1: ... and my to do list has so many things in the priority section that I've lost the plot and abandoned all hope of figuring out which one is the most priority.

I think probably the worst thing is that people think you spend all day with your feet up and can run any errand that crops up.

Our dog is a God send ... if we didn't have her I would probably never leave the house during the week. The weather is perking up now and we can have a bit more fun with the ball on the field.

When I worked in the office I did get the odd chances in the day to have a quick chat to colleagues and I miss the banter but that's why I enjoy this forum so much.

Having said that hubby came home from work yesterday to find me having a pillow fight with his sister on Facebook in the middle of our HSBC card processing nightmare and he was not amused ... well SHE STARTED IT!!

[MSC]

and my to do list has so many things in the priority section that I've lost the plot and abandoned all hope of figuring out which one is the most priority.

That was like me until I read "Do It Tomorrow"by Mark Forster. I posted about it here! It really helped me so much and is a great book for anyone having trouble with routines and organisation.

[Green Mum]

Yea, I find I have to take regular breaks. Even if it's just to make a coffee or hang the washing out. Lets face it, if we were in an office we would take 10 mins out to chat to colleagues here and there. Ok, I suppose sometimes I'm on here a lot more than 10 minutes but hey..... it's all work related!

[Dotwhack]

I worked from home for a couple of weeks last summer. I'd moved to a new part of the country where I didn't know anyone and my other half started a new job so I was left to my own devices all day.

It was awful - I felt really loney and the dogs drove me mad. They assumed because I was at home it was ok to bark to go out every 30mins and then bark to be played with, try and sit on my lap for a cuddle etc. I think I actually started to go crazy within those 2 weeks.

I was so relieved when I started working in an office again. Although now I'm here, I wish I worked from home - grass is always greener I guess!

[harding125]

Hi,
I agree running an on-line business on your own can seem very lonely. Taking breaks is a good idea. Also are there any freinds or family that could get involved?

Gary

[andrewsimon]

For those people who are home-based running online businesses... do you sometimes feel like you are going mad as you spend most of your time glued to your computer screen and have very little face to face contact with the outside world....I'm having one of those days I need an A1 boost ...

I think many people don't feel like that. Because there's no place like home in the world, to earn a living. In case, if you have always worked for someone else and are depressed with this situation, or if you want to spend more time at home, you may want to consider finding a work at home opportunity that will allow you to earn money but give you the free time you are looking for.

[Mike Seddon]

I've been working from home for a while now and I got myself into a routine of going for a walk everyday for at least 30 minutes.

You might say "I don't have 30 minutes". I know I did. However I find that after that walk I am revived and I actually get more done in the afternoon than if I had just kept slogging at it.

On the odd days that I really can;t take that walk I really do feel hemmed in and ruddy miserable!