I recently returned to work from 6 months maternity leave,  I work full time for the Northern TUC as the lead project worker supporting the Learning for All Fund.

Working from home is not a regular occurrence in my job although during busy periods it's not uncommon for me to bring work home on evenings and weekends. I welcomed the opportunity to take part in national working from day and agreed to keep a diary of my experience.

I dropped Grace off at her grandmothers two hours later than usual -I was able to give Grace breakfast and have some quality time with her in the morning.

it was great not have the stressful commute into Newcastle City centre, stuck in peak time traffic on the central motor way. Back home and already the novelty of working from was great and I could feel myself organising my work load for the day around domestic duties!

 It took a little bit of motivation to get started but after putting a load of washing in I was able to set up my lap top, provided to me by the TUC and computer, purchased through the TUCs staff home computing initiave. 

The ability to connect to the internet and access emails and our computer network system through remote access meant I could respond to e-mails and work on specific documents relating to my work plan for the day.

I was contacted by colleagues and others on my work mobile.

I enjoyed working uninterrupted on specific project work and it was nice to be able to juggle small domestic jobs I had to do along with my work.  I felt like I was able to focus more on my work therefore able to pay more attention detail.

It made me feel confident to know that I was trusted and considered disciplined enough by my employer to work from home for the day.

Not only did I have a stress free but very productive day I was able to save £15.00 that I'd usually spend on Parking, petrol and lunch. I'd welcome working from home more often specifically during busy periods of the year.