I have a separate office in the house so I can separate work from home and shut the door

I try not to work from home wherever possible, although I will confess to staying late some days.

Home time is for family time, running (which definitely helps me unwind), charity work ( a good leveller for how lucky we are) and watching sport.

Regards

Nick

I make sure I stick to my working hours 9am to 5pm even the times I am working from home.  I try to discipline myself making sure even if I am working from home, I take an hour lunch break.  Then no work calls and queries after 5 pm except in extreme measures.  Weekends are for sports, outings  etc and no work, again except where we have to.

I make sure that I work hard during my office hours and try not to get distracted by personal chores (which can often be hard when working from home!) so that I can feel good about switching off after work.  It can be hard when clients email in the evenings or at weekend but over the years I have learnt that I need to educate my clients in the way I like to work and if that doesn't suit them, they can find a better match to work with!  I don't have to reply in my down time.

My weekends are my time and family time. I will work as long as is needed through the week but I never take work home over the weekend. 

I agree Joanne I think we need some time where we put work aside completely and concentrate on family which is why I never work at the weekends if I can help it.  I have a grandchild who I mind on Wednesdays and he is at the adorable age so I have a really lovely time concentrating on him only and it’s such a joy and so good for my mental health.  

Me too Barry. It works great to be able to separate work from home. 

I enjoy working from home, I feel a lot more productive. However, I have embraced working from the office 2 days a week and seeing my colleagues is always great. 

Did it take you long to get into a routine and be disciplined when it comes to no work calls and queries after 5pm? 

I think you make a real valid point Chloe making sure that your clients know how you like to work and understand your working hours. It's sometimes too easy to pick your phone or laptop up and reply quickly to a client tends to open the floodgates,