I try not to bring work home as much as possible. However, there are times when it’s unavoidable and so I do!
H and I have rules: As much as possible, we don’t talk about work when we’re together, except to ask how each other’s day went. No details! There are moments when we break the rules though, particularly if we’re seeking advice from each other or venting.
Do you have any work rules when you’re at home? Do you bring your work home?
Or if you work from home, how do you make sure you separate work life from home life? That’s always intrigued me.
Hi! I'm Toni Tiu,
and I've been blogging at
at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.
denden
October 16, 2006 at 7:44 am (18 years ago)hi toni! i used to take my work home with me until i realised they don’t pay me enough. hehehe. if it’s something urgent then i work at home but if not, it can wait till i get in the office.
i haven’t really tried working from yet although i can if i want to. ayoko kasi ma-miss ang chismis sa office eh. hehe.
Jeanny
October 16, 2006 at 8:57 am (18 years ago)Actually no…because I wont be paid for it. If ever I need to wok on it…’ll be spending my time at the office..kaya ayun dami kong overtime. Si hubby..I really dont know if he really bring his work at home…sometimes kc I see him answering emails na work related.
So I think…sa aming 2, we dont really bring work at home kasi sayang ang time na mag kasama kami then work din naman pla ang pag uusapan at gagawin namen. 😀
Pat
October 16, 2006 at 9:45 am (18 years ago)Hi, Toni. I rarely bring home work. It’s enough that I put in 8 hours in the office. What little time I have left of my waking hours, I want to be spent with my hubby, family or myself. Besides, the minute I leave the office, there are still a lot of things to be done, like putting away the laundry, etc.
tin
October 16, 2006 at 10:17 am (18 years ago)it’s not like we intentionally bring home work but when it can’t be helped we do. for us who can remotely access office emails and applications, there’s always room to do some work from home. but then again, bihira rin namin gawin ito these days.
Tina
October 16, 2006 at 10:35 am (18 years ago)I don’t bring work home and I’m not planning to do that ever, unless of course it’s a sideline, then I work from home. 😛 I’m not doing much for work as of now, and my brother and I agree that we rest and relax at home, no work!
I, however, love to talk about what happened at work with my family. Maybe it’s because I’ve just started working and the novelty hasn’t worn off yet. 😀
ana
October 16, 2006 at 11:04 am (18 years ago)i avoid bringing home work at all costs. hahaha
nah, i bring home work once in a while but it’s only like a phone call or two and that’s it.
i also tell my B to stop talking about work when it’s getting to much na.
Via
October 16, 2006 at 12:25 pm (18 years ago)I love this nook Toni! so cozy!
I think I bring work home more than Noel as it’s a business, hours are a bit erratic. We love to bounce off ideas on one another too. It used to bother me a lot when we’d talk about work, but I guess it was more of a matter of finding something I really enjoyed. I have yet to reply to your newsy email. 
barbara
October 16, 2006 at 3:44 pm (18 years ago)it’s harder for me – i work from home and it’s taken me a year to finally find my spot – a proper office space.
but i finally completed it over the weekend.
my problem is trying to stick to a routine – i need to concentrate on work and not think of the dishes or laundry or a bit of cleaning when i go past the lounge room and other rooms before i get to the office area.
i’m still finding it hard to balance things – sometimes when it’s “lunch time” i get out of the office and watch oprah on tv – bad bad habit, cos instead of having an hour lunch i go overboard.
it’s hard to be my own boss, but someone has to do it
–miss b
Linnor
October 16, 2006 at 6:34 pm (18 years ago)I bring home work from time to time as I also do some personal stuff (during breaks) at work. Last week, I was practically a telecommuter (working from home) since Jake’s nanny was on sick leave (nagka- sore eyes!).
Though I’d rather keep work in the office, my current job affords me to mix both if there’s a need. 😀
rowie
October 16, 2006 at 9:07 pm (18 years ago)Hahaha, baliktad kami! As soon as we meet up at the end of the day, we spend at least an hour sharing our respective work day’s with each other. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it seems to work for us; now I know more about online advertising than I ever have, and now Mike knows more about philo and teaching than he’ll ever need to know, hahaha! Like Via and Noel, we also bounce ideas off each other. (Hi Via!!) We’re also constantly sharing each other’s work interests; when Mike goes to a bookstore he looks for books that might interest me. When I’m browsing the web I look for web article that might interest him.
We also both bring work home, though it’s unavoidable because of the nature of our work: he runs a business and I teach about, um, life (so there’s nothing really that’s not related to what I teach).
rach
October 17, 2006 at 12:18 am (18 years ago)I was lucky that I never needed to take my work home back then. Most of my work involved system generated software so I had to do everything at the office. I miss working esp. the after office gimmicks.
Kay
October 17, 2006 at 12:53 pm (18 years ago)Hubby does not like to talk about work. I do. But I’m learning not to anymore. =)
I would love to work at home but I imagine it quite hard to not give in to my son’s incessant MAMA MAMA =)
Junnie
October 17, 2006 at 3:49 pm (18 years ago)i’ve been working from home since 2001. my only rule is that i do the same routine of starting at 9am and ending at 6pm, with lunch and afternoon breaks. everything just like working in an office, bath before work, exercise during breaks, coffee time, and more importantly enjoying time with no one breathing down your neck. one time, i dressed up as well. it makes you feel you’re serious with your work.
the secret is not to wander around the house during slow times, but to be productive. and yes, dont turn that ever so tempting TV.
Christianne
October 17, 2006 at 4:00 pm (18 years ago)You can feel the positive chi coming from this work area. Mine is so messy!
I work from home and I love it (no commuting hassles, for one thing, and I save money on meals) but I do miss my officemates back in Makati.
And Hubby and I talk about work all the time, he helps me with my stupid technical questions and I… uhm… listen to him complain about stuff
eye
October 17, 2006 at 4:40 pm (18 years ago)i guess it’s really difficult for couples to draw the line between work and home, esp. when you’re venting hehehe! after all, sa partner mo lang pwede ikwento lahat ng kontrabida sa office hahaha!
lucky for me, i can’t bring home work because we use lots of equipment plus the intranet for documentation purposes. wag lang mapapa-OT!
karol
October 17, 2006 at 7:15 pm (18 years ago)i hate working at home, too! but sometimes, kelangan talaga. i just make sure na what i’m taking home is not that heavy a load, para makapag relax pa rin. 😀
Cat
October 18, 2006 at 5:53 pm (18 years ago)Well, actually, I prefer working at home cuz while I’m working, I can watch tv, etc. The management team in my company doesn’t have particular working hours. We can come in whatever time we want for as long as when my boss asks for a report, we can submit it right away. And because I’m such a nocturnal creature, I go to work at 2pm because I go to bed at 5am! It’s an awful, awful habit that I want to break but can never seem to.
My only rule though is that when Friday night comes, all work must be done.. and as much as possible, I don’t want to work on weekends.
tanya
October 19, 2006 at 3:12 am (18 years ago)hmmm…my husband doesn’t really take his work at home ’cause he can’t. hahaha! I usually ask him how his days went and i want the details. :-p hmmm I don’t work yet.. but I know I can’t work like how i used to when I was in tv production. He saw my life and he didn’t like it.. and i know i can’t do that too anymore because there won’t be time for each other.. no no no. :-p hehehe!
Carmi
October 20, 2006 at 7:08 pm (18 years ago)I do a lot of freelance writing, so I don’t have much choice in the matter: work’s going to come home with me whether I like it or not (thankfully, I like it very much!) But I’m highly concerned with its impact on my home life, so I often leave it until after the kids have gone to bed – or, like this morning, before they wake up.
It means I sleep less than I probably should. But it allows me to stay on top of deadlines without cutting into precious family time.
Sometimes, though, I wish there were more hours in the day.
Popped by from Michele’s this morning. When’s the sun supposed to rise, anyway?