We hear a lot about work/life balance these days and it can mean different things to different people.

Some think we have the work/life balance right if we work from home. On the surface, this seems like a reasonable assumption: we have the technology and tools to do so (unless we are actually involved in making things) and whilst ‘working from home’ we can watch over the kids, do the laundry and save the environment by not driving to work.

Whilst working for an employer, I found the freedom and responsibility of working from home very liberating and empowering. Discipline had to be instilled at an early stage and I did this by changing into ‘work clothes’ in the morning when it came to the appointed time to start work. I then changed out of the work clothes once I had finished for the day.

This was important in creating a space between home and work, mentally separating the two environments. It worked very well for me and my time working from home for an employer was both productive and enjoyable.

Then I set up my own company and tried to run a business from home. Even though I was doing much the same work for some of the same people, I quickly discovered that it wasn’t working for me in the same way as before. And the reason why it wasn’t surprised me.

Once I was running my own company, the home became more than a secondary office or a spoke in a wheel of other folks working for one separate entity. My home was the business premises, the head office and the place where all the work was done.

It also was the place where all the invoices were processed, payments made, planning conducted from, PAYE sorted out, tenders written and where the post arrived. Suddenly, it wasn’t a home at all – it was an extended office. It became impossible to switch off – every time I passed the office, I was reminded that I still had to issue an invoice or update the accounts, plan the next marketing strategy or buy a new printer.

So I rented a small office a couple of miles from my home and moved all my work stuff in there. At the end of the day, I could close the door on it and come home. If I needed to, I could bring something back with me and finish it off at home: but this was now a choice and not a constant reminder of what needed doing.

And so to the moral of this particular story: what works well in one situation may not necessarily be right for another. It is important to be alive to the need to constantly question and evaluate what you are doing to ensure that it is being done for the right reasons and not out of habit. Achieving balance is not a one time event – it needs constant review and assessment.