Blurring the lines: The boundary between work and home

I work from home at 1-2 days a week and don't have any problems. I log into the VPN in the morning, so I have access to email and everything I need, and when my day is over, I log out. I don't log back in or check email for the rest of the evening.

You have to set boundaries and expectations. If you set the expectation that you're always 'on' and never say no to working on weekends, then that is what your company will expect from you. I have encountered no negative consequences from others having to wait until the next business day to get a response, if they attempt to contact me after normal business hours. This is because I have not "taught" them to expect this.

Most of us aren't doing open heart surgery and very rarely is anything ever ACTUALLY an emergency. This goes for the lunch hour, as well. The world can wait until you get back.

I was on the "cutting" edge of what is now the telecommuting movement. I started working from home in 1984 before the internet was so pervasive. I would pick up assignments weekly from the office and complete them on my own schedule. As I was not "connected" I never felt the compulsion to constantly check up on things. I did however feel that I was distanced from the decisions that affected the office and my job.
That job ended when the company merged with another. I have unsuccessfully tried to obtain another position where I can work from home. My current position as controller leaves me continually checking my Blackberry for updates anyway, even if it's only when I go out for lunch.
I feel the benefits of working from home outweigh the costs. It's a matter of drawing the line on when you are available. We all should learn to turn off for our own benefit.

I started working from home about a year ago.Though this has advantages of saving on gas and time and working in safe environment, I have found that most of the time I am taken for granted that I will work late or during night hours or even during weekend. 'Can you do this since you are working from home ?' is how the conversation starts.

This increased my stress and also the internal fight which goes on when you cannot allot time to kids.
This made me think about my resignation about 5 times in a year and what I really wanted.

The other thing of working from home is that there is no differentiation in the boundaries and that I was working all the time..even when I am writing this at 3:00 am..I am working for some 'URGENT' stuff.
I found I was working 90% more than I would have if working from office.

Plus not to mention feeling neglected and not being invovled in the decision making process.

I have a hard time separating the two!