Oliver Wright

Oxfordshire

IT Consultant

Having made the break (not by choice I may add) to working for myself, I now have a 5 yard commute in the morning to the garden shed, and that is the ONLY advantage of my new lifestyle. I had such a much better work-life balance when I worked a 9-5 office job, the family saw me in the evening and weekends, clients didn't call me at odd hours of the evening. I could compartmentalise.

Email, phone and instant messaging whilst a great facility, are no-way a replacement for one-to-one interaction. Trouble is I know of many small companies now, that due to heavy handed employment redtape don't employ their own staff, and don't even have a central office, simply staffed by self-employed contractors/consultants working from home across the entire country. The world of work of the future? Give me the good old days....