I'm Burnt Out!

[DirtyDog]

Good advice but if a role is hard to come by then replacing something that is paying is not always easy, having said that its worth trying.

Manage expectations up front - I always say at interview that I won't be there on Monday mornings or Friday afternoons, but will work late in between to make sure they get their money's worth. If they aren't interested, then you have a decision to make about whether the role / client / rate / bank account is worth the grief.

Normally when I work away from home I put in a few late nights so that I feel less guilty about slipping away early on a Friday.

I work late so that I average 8 hours a day over the week. I certainly don't feel guilty about leaving early on the Friday, though - I've done my work, so I'm off.

Also the advantage of travelling by train / plane is that often its a quiet opportunity to catch up with emails.

Unless you mean personal emails, then NO! It's an opportunity to relax and chill out. The time for doing work is when you are working - once you leave the office on a Friday afternoon, that should be your time now that you aren't billing for it.

[d000hg]

Unless you mean personal emails, then NO! It's an opportunity to relax and chill out. The time for doing work is when you are working - once you leave the office on a Friday afternoon, that should be your time now that you aren't billing for it.

What you are billing for and what he is billing for may not be the same. Travelling in could be considered part of the working day.

[DS23]

if it was me (and it was once) i'd:
option 1 "cram 5 into 4": change from sunday travel to monday. i'd work longer hours monday to wednesday and leave earlyish on thursday and not work on friday. your weekend expands. you regain composure and charge your batteries. yes, monday is a killer.

option 2 "wfh": change from sunday travel to tuesday (work from home office on monday). slightly longer hours to catch up any tuesday/friday shortfall and leave earlyish on friday.

others: variations on above that equate to only working 4 or less days a week thus no need to cram hours or work from home.

there are loads of options but the key thing is to remember that your business should drive these decisions.

[darmstadt]

I've been working away from home in my current gig for 18 months now.

Getting too old for this lark.

As everyone else has pointed out, man up. F*** me, I've been doing this for at least 7 years now, current one is going into it's 4th or 5th year now and I'm pretty damn sure I'm older than you. I find getting the cleaning lady to wake me up in the mornings makes the day go a hell of a lot easier...

[suityou01]

Listen ole son, it's like this.

ClientCo said "See you about 11 then, Monday morning?"

"Why?" said I?

"'Cos you're flying in?"

"There are earlier flights, I will be here at 9"

"Jeez, what time do you get up for that?"

"3:30"

It's all about manning up see??

Couple of weekends ago I flew in from Jersey, grabbed the missus, flew to Dortmund, rocked the Christmas market - and did an interview for a local radio station - flew back to Luton then flew to Jersey (3:30am start).

Sooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaysically ....

[MarillionFan]

Listen ole son, it's like this.

ClientCo said "See you about 11 then, Monday morning?"

"Why?" said I?

"'Cos you're flying in?"

"There are earlier flights, I will be here at 9"

"Jeez, what time do you get up for that?"

"3:30"

It's all about manning up see??

Couple of weekends ago I flew in from Jersey, grabbed the missus, flew to Dortmund, rocked the Christmas market - and did an interview for a local radio station - flew back to Luton then flew to Jersey (3:30am start).

Sooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaysically ....

Has anyone told you you're my hero.

[NickFitz]

I always try to avoid going away on Sunday evening; maybe the first week so as to be sure I make it to NewClientCo on time, but after that, I travel on Monday morning. I also aim to leave as soon as I can on Friday; as I'm away from home, I can easily put extra hours in during the week. Not all clients can accommodate this, but at the very least I aim to leave as soon as flexitime arrangements allow on Friday.

I once tried commuting to London for a couple of weeks, and came to the conclusion that, stressful as it is being away for four nights a week, it's a lot more stressful travelling home only to arrive just in time to crash out, ready to get up and head out again at some ungodly hour of the morning.

[Freaki Li Cuatre]

I get terrible insomnia. I'd have to get up at 5 am on a Monday just to get in for 10. Yes go to bed early but it won't work. There's this little voice that keeps telling me I have to be up at 5 am and I'm going to feel like crap if I don't get to sleep soon. And the voice gets louder the less time I have left before the alarm goes off.

No WFH option either, unfortunately.

[MPwannadecentincome]

Unless you mean personal emails, then NO! It's an opportunity to relax and chill out. The time for doing work is when you are working - once you leave the office on a Friday afternoon, that should be your time now that you aren't billing for it.

I meant both - my normal roles normally require me to work 48 or more hours per week - I am hired to get a job done not to do 40 hours and its not possible to do the job in 40 hours - so any opportunity to do it whilst on a train / plane rather than sitting at a desk in some one else's office is most welcome.

It really depends on your role - if you are a developer and can get away with 40 hours per week then fine.

[suityou01]

Has anyone told you you're my hero.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand into the sig you go.