Sometimes we are forced to break into our property.
This is something that feels fairly odd, and can also be dangerous and/or destructive to your property.
For these reasons it's usually better to wait for your locksmith to come and operate the lock for you.
The kinds of circumstances where you might be forced to break in yourself could be when you know someone has fallen over inside a locked room such as the bathroom and needs your help, or when you are in a massive hurry for an important emergency and have locked yourself out.
You should still call a locksmith in case you are unable to break in, and then in the mean time go about finding an emergency entrance to your home.
The first thing to try is to see if there is some entrance to your home.
Try back windows you may have left open and get a ladder if necessary to help yourself get up.
Also think if there is anyone you know who might be available and have a spare key you can use.
Failing this the next port of call is to try picking the lock, which will mean you need two pins or hair clips.
Here you will use one of the clips in order to push the pins individually out of the way, and the other pin in order to hold those in position while you move on to the next one.
Depending on the lock there will be about five that you need to get through in order to get in, and a lot of it is a matter of trying to 'feel' for the pins clicking as you move them out of place.
Once you have moved them all you will require some kind of blade - such as a nail file, to turn the lock.
Of course this is very hard though and if there are keys in the other end it won't work.
While you normally should at this point wait for a locksmith, in extreme situations you will be forced to cause property damage to get in.
Make sure you go round the back of your house where the property damage will be less noticeable and where security will generally be more lax.
You may be able to kick down the door here if you have a porch or conservatory, in which case you should aim for the handle with your foot which is the weakest point.
Failing this you can break a window which you should do by throwing something from a distance - and making sure you clear all the glass before you climb through.
Kicking down a door is another method that will work for inside doors such as the bathroom door.
This requires a lot of power and can be dangerous, but to try and ensure you do it as successfully as possible you should aim to kick the door handle which is the point where it will be weakest on interior doors that use lever locks.
If you have had to damage your property to get in, or if your lock was broken causing you to have to break and enter initially, then you should call a locksmith in order to repair the lock.
When breaking in to your property make sure that you have some ID on you and proof that this is your address.
Should the police stop you you will need to be able to prove it's your own home you're breaking into.