shit-happens 3946399 Research about sat.

I took a long weekend over the summer, and went cycling along the route of Hadrian’s wall with a friend. No email. No laptop. No work. It was great! It was also probably the first real break I’ve had in over three years, as the laptop’s come everywhere else with me.

And this is generally how I get my downtime – short breaks, or from Jan – Sept, daily triathlon training. It isn’t exactly relaxing, but the physical exercise lets my mind run free and uncoil quite nicely.

Karl.

I try and push all the work to after 8pm when the kids are in bed so that they see Dad all day and then I’m free to focus 100% on work for 3-4 hours once they are tucked in and asleep.

As all my staff telecommute they can pretty much do the same, as long as the work gets done, we can be where ever we like in the world for as long as we like…. as long as the location has Internet !!

True, there’s always work to do, and it can always be done, but a key for me is the mini-break, whether that be simply a coffee refill or a long weekend (a favorite of this thread).

Another benefit of working at/from home: taking off early, running errands, attending a child’s ballgame. I probably only work 40-45 hours a week, but they’re leisurely hours, not forced 8-5, M-F (gosh those are horrible hours).

One technique I learned back when I was a beat reporter working 60-70 hour weeks, including weekends, was to shut off work whenever I wasn’t working. It’s not exactly easy to do but at leas you focus on the time off that you have rather than worry about what will happen when you are back at work.