Living in a box

I think there has been a catalyst to my recent mental ramblings. I work from home. In principal its great. No wasting time and money or damaging the environment commuting. It allows me great flexibility in helping out with the kids. I don't need to wear a suit and tie, in fact I can work in my pants!

But it's not all happy pant wearing work schedules, there are some downsides. It can be hard to discipline yourself when you most need to. Work hours seem to go out of the window and because you're at home people sometimes call you when they're at home, like evenings and weekends. Also, when you leave for a place of work the kids know you have gone to work. When you're sitting in the next room it's not always an easy concept for them to grasp when you keep dismissing them and asking them to leave.

Perhaps one of the biggest negative parts is the isolation. In my previous job I was Mr Social and had a great social life around my work. Now I'm just a voice on the end of a phone, not even that most days, an email. I often do not leave the house, sometimes for days. Even then when I do it just for a local trip often less than a mile. I cannot help thinking this isolation is magnifying the problem. Some days the silence is deafening and that's when the mind start to wander ...

P.S. No that's not me pictured in the box.Yet.