One of the hardest things for me to do is to keep my work life and home life separate. Today is a good example I am sitting at my office desk on a Saturday doing not for work stuff. But as far as my family and my psyche knows, I am still at work. I sit at this desk for 8 hours a day on the job and then I sit for who knows how many more doing non-work related stuff. So as I type this I have unplugged the computer and moved to the other room. This tells both my family and my psyche that I am "home" and that I am available to them.
I have a son who is 10. He has never experienced a Dad going to work everyday and waiting for him to come home in the evening. He instead sees a dad who just walks into the other room and at some point of the day will come out... or not. By relocating myself to a different room when I am doing non work stuff tells him that work is done and Dad is home.
As for my psyche this patterns helps me feel that I am not still working when I am done with work. It is easy to feel trapped by the "office". Making a physical distinction helps me feel that it is OK to be doing non work stuff. Work hours and home hours can get blurred and you can either resent your job for eating up all your time, or feel guilty that you are not giving your employer an honest days work.
It's interesting that your son has never seen you go to work (leave the house for work anyway). What a different world we live in today! I'm interested to read your posts. I've been working from home the past two years - popping into my workplace for occasional meetings or when I just want to see people. I get more work done at home, but I do miss the interactions...
ReplyDelete