Mumsnet Talk

I came on to this thread to say that sounds like my ideal day!!

Ah well. If you are disciplined enough, then do it. I know I am not.

You're a stronger woman than me, then, Fanny. I can do the school run and be home again by 8:30am. The siren call of my still warm, cosy bed is really quite strong especially if I have had a bad morning with the DC

All good points.no worries about going back to bed as will be doing the school run in the morning. all

Get straight into the shower on getting up - no sloping back to bed with a cup of tea, it's lethal.

Get dressed in something you'd not be embarrassed to go outside in.

Set an alarm for when it's time to start your working day (and another for when it's time to end it).

Don't do anything home-related unless you are taking a specific break. E.g. if you suddenly remember that you need to put a load of washing on, wait until your mid-AM break to do it.

On the flip side, the other pitfall of working from home is working too much. Set an alarm for the end of your day and respect it. Take regular breaks and a lunch break. Go to the shops, or for a walk at lunchtime.

If you've procrastinated during the day, don't work for more than an extra 45 minutes to compensate (remember, people procrastinate when in the office!). If you have remote access to work's network, see if you can disable this out of office hours (similarly, disable Facebook etc. during working hours).

I hated working from home. I ended up working 10 hour days. If I had the choice, I'd do a couple of days from home and spend the rest in the office.

You need to book a meeting, or an office day, every so often (and stick to it), otherwise you stop washing and getting dressed may start to go a little stir crazy.

Jaffa Cakes (and the fridge), PJs, MN and the washing shouting at you - those are the major pitfalls. Lots of upsides, though.

Jaffa cakes...

Not sure we can do separate office space. Hmm.

Now I want jaffa cakes.

Erm, seperate office area from the rest of the house so you can pretend you're actually leaving for work.

One accidental trip to the shops in your jammies should be enough to make you get dressed everyday.

Really do want jaffa cakes now <obsessed>

Block non work/fun websites from your computer between work hours.

What are the other pitfalls of working from home?

They're closing one of our offices at work soon, and I've got the choice of hot-desking about 25 mins walk away, or getting a regular desk 25 mins drive away.

Or I could work from home and just go in for the odd meeting.

I do this usually a couple of days a week already, and it's very tempting to do more, but I also know I can turn into a shut-in with very little encouragement .

Do you do it? What are the traps I'd fall into?