Am I a workaholic? No, not me! Sure, maybe I do return to the computer after supper, but just for something to do as I sip my tea. Oh, OK, sometimes I neglect the tea until it’s too cold to drink because I’ve gotten involved with what’s going on here and forgotten about it. But I’m not a workaholic! I love my work! So too, I imagine, does every other workaholic.

Not long ago, if you wanted to take work home from the office, you carried it with you in your brief case. Today the brief case can hold your entire business. If you have a home-based business (a blog perhaps?) it can be a challenge to distance yourself from work at the end of the day.

When you have young children at home how do you cultivate the discipline necessary to give yourself a break from work so you can enjoy your family? Do we begin to develop that discipline when we are young, before we have children? Empty-nesters, like myself, didn’t have these technological toys when their kids were small. It’s a whole new challenge for the younger generation.

When I lived in residence at university I used to tuck my books beneath my bed when I returned from classes on Friday afternoon. I didn’t want to see any evidence of academia until Saturday after lunch when I went back to work again. Not being able to see the books helped me to relax and enjoy my Friday night. Is that what we need to do; close the laptop, drape the computer, turn off the ringer on the iPhone/Blackberry and put it in a drawer? Is that even possible?

Are you a workaholic? How do you draw the line between work and play?

photo credit: Peter Hellberg