Just recently got out of a really well-paying full time, work from home programming gig because of difficulty with finding that balance. Not having to commute obviously saves me a ton of time in the day, but it started becoming really hard to separate work from home.

But the hardest part was the lack of energy and mental space to really enjoy my time with the family. I struggled hard with keeping work thoughts away when not “at work”. Some days I would try to start work a little early to have more time in the afternoon, but then by the time the kids were home from school, settled, homework, showers, dinner, I was totally shot. I was either super tired, in a funk from a crappy day, or on the rare days I was good, they wanted to do their own thing which they totally have the right to do.

This was probably due to the work environment always being high-pressure and getting constant promises of better a pace for the team that never came, so if the job was a little better I would’ve maybe not have dealt with those issues.