Work Work balance

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seodave

New Member
I think you should add a forum called work / work balance, because these days it seems all I'm doing is working, between day job and my own part time stuff there really isn't much time for a life as such.

I think particularly when someone works with the internet and computers, its so easy to come home from work and then switch on the PC and start working somemore, wheras if you were a builder, creche worker, postman etc. you do your 9-5 and then thats it.

Oh well this is the life we've chosen i guess.
 

grandad

Member
I think particularly when someone works with the internet and computers, its so easy to come home from work and then switch on the PC and start working somemore, wheras if you were a builder, creche worker, postman etc. you do your 9-5 and then thats it.

And it's a hell of a lot harder when you work from home. When there isn't an official clocking off time, it takes a lot of resolve to quit. Particularly if you are in the middle of something complex...
 

Gavin

New Member
Yeah I know what you both mean. I currently work 16hrs a day online but if it wasnt for making money I would be at local park sniffng the flowers.

Anyway, it sure beats hard grafting or dealing with the general public face - face.
 

ButtermilkJack

New Member
Interesting forum topic to start up, nice one!

I've just decided (after months of going back and forth) that I'm going to go out on my own full-time. I'm going to hand in my notice this Monday I think and finish up at Christmas. I'll be working from home so any advice on getting the work/life balance right from the strat would be great :D

BTW I'm a graphic/web designer so the temptation will be to keep working past 5 or 6 in the evening. I'll need to nip that in the bud before it starts...

EDIT: Ha, I just looked at my sig... if I follow Ted Turners advice I'll be pretty alright I reckon.
 

mneylon

Administrator
Staff member
I know how you all feel :)

It's all too easy to end up working 7 days a week and close to 19 hours a day ...

/me goes back to rsyncing two servers
 

seodave

New Member
buttermilkjack in reality i think it will be very hard to stop at 5 or 6, well unless you have to do something else or be somewhere, but if you where in the middle of graphic work and then if you stoped you would just actually be relaxing or lazing around the house I think most time s you would say to yourself 'ah sure I'll get this out of the way, a take tomorrow off' but of course tomorrow brings its own set of problems.

When I go full time self emplyed I'm going to make sure my evenings a scheduled off to the gym, pub, family etc. so I haven't really got the option of working night hours.
 

grandad

Member
in reality i think it will be very hard to stop at 5 or 6, well unless you have to do something else or be somewhere, but if you where in the middle of graphic work and then if you stoped you would just actually be relaxing or lazing around the house I think most time s you would say to yourself 'ah sure I'll get this out of the way, a take tomorrow off' but of course tomorrow brings its own set of problems.
I couldn't have put it better myself!

The easy bit is setting the alarm in the morning. And the alarm is important - no giving yourself that extra few minutes in bed. There is nothing worse than a client phoning and waking you out of a deep sleep. :eek:

The hard bit is knocking off. My solution is simple - get yourself a Missus who nags the hell out of you if you aren't out of the office by a certain time. That works for me.
 

grandad

Member
Of course I'm speaking from experience. And no, she isn't a regular. :rolleyes:

If it weren't for herself, I'd probably work way too late. And regular times are important. I've been playing this game for the last five years, and if I'd allowed myself to work all hours, I would have burned out by now. Not to mention having no life.
 

ButtermilkJack

New Member
buttermilkjack in reality i think it will be very hard to stop at 5 or 6, well unless you have to do something else or be somewhere, but if you where in the middle of graphic work and then if you stoped you would just actually be relaxing or lazing around the house I think most time s you would say to yourself 'ah sure I'll get this out of the way, a take tomorrow off' but of course tomorrow brings its own set of problems.

When I go full time self emplyed I'm going to make sure my evenings a scheduled off to the gym, pub, family etc. so I haven't really got the option of working night hours.
Excellent advice, and very true... I know from present experience that I just keep working if I've nothing else to do. I'm not the type of person that can sit down and do nothing easily and I'm damned if I'm going to waste my life watching other people live theirs (my take on watching TV :p).

So, I think the first step is to move the 'office' out of my bedroom and into the spare room. At least that way I'll have a door to close behind me before I go to bed :D.
 

grandad

Member
It is actually quite important to have a space [preferably a dedicated room] that you can call an office.

You go unlock at nine and lock up again at half five. That way you have a mental separation between 'home' and 'office'. Also, if you have a family, they know that you are working and musn't be disturbed [unless, of course you want to be...]

I have a spare room that I use. It has a lock on the door for security. It looks better if clients call. And I can trail cables all over the place without anyone complaining.
 

georgiecasey

New Member
Interesting thread. That seperation of home and office is so true. In the summer, I used to go into the college reading rooms because it was free wireless and used to get loads of work done and learn new stuff and then go home when it closed or when someone was going for pints or the cinema.

Then when the term started again, I moved into dorms with internet in the room and planned on working from the room but it never worked out. Flatmates doing nothing and just hanging about meant little work being done.
 

mneylon

Administrator
Staff member
Keeping my PC in a different room to my bed was one of the best moves I ever made. If the PC was still near my bed it would be too tempting to stay up into the early hours every night...

Of course the separation doesn't work that well :)

I take my laptop with me every time I go away overnight regardless
 

grandad

Member
I take my laptop with me every time I go away overnight regardless

I can even top that for nerdiness :cool:

Took mine to France for three weeks. My excuse was that I needed to offload photos from the camera, but it was a lifesaver on a couple of occasions [once to reschedule a booking and once when I got hopelessly lost in a maze of motorways].
 
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