Are you working too hard? We encouraged members to confess their weekend working sins and tell us if they are using their days of rest for career maintenance.

You responded with a sobering fact: It's not a question of 'if' we're working weekends, but how much.

'I am embarrassed to tell you how much time I spend at home doing things for my job!' writes iVillager Marge. 'At this very moment I am searching the Net for work-related info, simultaneously copying tapes to use in educational programmes, and reading over material that needs to be presented at the next meeting.'

'It sounds worse now that I'm talking about it,' she continued. 'This morning as I was looking around the house thinking to myself how shabby this place looks, I realised that it was probably due to the fact that I spend a tremendous amount of time at home doing work stuff instead of home stuff! Blimey, it has got to stop. But how?'

The Call of the Office

Working weekends has evolved from a guilty sin of corporate life into a necessity of modern careers.

The UK has the longest working hours in the European Union. A recent study by the Institute of Personnel Development suggests that 2.7 million workers work more than 48 hours a week, with the majority of these workers not getting paid for overtime; and 22 per cent of workers work outside office hours every day of the week. Management Today reports that 10 per cent of managers work more than six days a week as part of their normal routine.

'I have been taking work home for about the last four weekends in the hope of getting the job done,' writes one iVillage member. 'It used to be easier going into the office on Saturdays, but my bosses found out and decided to come in on Saturdays, hoping I would be there. So, I was doing the work they were giving me instead of what I wanted and getting further behind. Now that I have access to a computer at home, I am able to get more done.'

Families Take a Beating

As iVillagers tell us, making family a priority in the midst of work responsibilities is a struggle for women, especially mothers. They work their 'second shift' -- that of caring for a family -- after putting in a full day at the office.

'I'm expecting child number two and currently have a seven-year-old,' explains iVillager Kisha. 'In order to continue to be a good mother and spend as much time as possible with the children, I'll be taking the newborn (when he gets here) to work with me. I'll only work six hours a day so I can continue to pick up the seven-year-old from school. I'll make up the hours on the weekend!'

iVillager Kelly says her firm is asking her more and more to come in on the weekend -- sometimes not submitting the request until Friday at 5pm -- while corporate bigwigs keep their weekends free.

'For a single mother of two teenagers, this makes life really hard,' she said. 'I am trying to keep what is left of my family together and this place wants more and more and more from me.'

Telecommuters and home entrepreneurs in particular face the overwhelming problem of lengthening work weeks, because they are never more than just a few feet away from their workspace -- the home office.

'I faced the problem of 'needing' to work late hours or go in on Saturdays when I worked for a large corporation,' writes member Kathy, a small business owner. 'And now that I have my own home-based marketing business, I have the same problem, made even harder, because I don't have to get dressed to go into the office on weekends. I live so close to work!'

Fighting Back for Time

No matter what their reasons for working weekends, iVillagers are fighting to reclaim personal time in small, daily battles to keep their personal lives and sanity intact.

'I have started to say no,' Kelly said. 'I feel that if I have to work on Saturday, they need to ask on Wednesday. By doing this, I can make plans for the kids and I don't feel so guilty. My kids respect me more and I feel that work will respect my time off more.'

iVillager Kim said she was constantly working weekends in a law firm that stayed chronically understaffed and didn't train anyone to cover her. Then she had a flash of inspiration.

'I finally got the common sense to seek out a better-paying job (that pays overtime). And I won't have a set of keys to this new office!'