Going through a divorce is one of the most difficult times in a person’s life; it’s easy to let it take over your career. Here, we show you six ways to achieve a work-life balance during divorce…
Divorce can quickly become be all-consuming. It’ll take time, energy, and money to get through it, and it is almost always a highly emotional event.
When this happens, your work can really suffer, especially if you need to take days off to meet with your divorce solicitor and attend court hearings. You might also find that the stress of going through the divorce lowers your productivity, increases the number of mistakes you make at work, and leads to you taking more sick days.
In this post, we’re going to give you some tips that will relieve some of that stress and help you maintain a stable work-life balance through your divorce.
How to Achieve a Reasonable Work-Life Balance Through Your Divorce
There will be moments in your divorce where you feel like your whole life is crumbling down around you. While it’s true that your marriage is ending and that part of your life will soon be behind you, it doesn’t mean your career has to be put in jeopardy as well.
To help prevent you from losing your job as well as your marriage, here are six ways to achieve a work-life balance while going through a divorce:
1. Take some time off
When you’re first confronted with the reality of your divorce, you’re going to go through a period of emotional distress. Your first instinct might be to go straight to work to take your mind off it but, at this early stage, it’s best to take any holidays you have and refocus.
It doesn’t have to be your whole annual leave, just a few days here and there to get your head around what’s happened. You can take this time to express your feelings to family and friends, and make arrangements for your future divorce proceedings.
Once you’ve made it through the first few days, you should be more mentally stable and able to work than you were when the divorce first became apparent.
2. Speak to your boss
Once you’ve had your time off and you’re ready to get working again, it’s unlikely that you’ll be as productive and capable as you were before you became aware of your divorce.
Instead of keeping it all under your lid and not mentioning it to anyone, have a quick word with your manager to give them a heads up and help them understand your current situation.
Most managers will understand and might even provide some support if you need it. At the very least they’ll have a reason why you’re not working as well as you used to and why you’re making more mistakes, so they can be more lenient with you.
3. Don’t deal with your divorce at work
It can be tempting, especially when there are so many little details to iron out during a divorce, to message solicitors, your ex-partner, and other involved parties to stay on top of everything. The problem with that is you end up dealing with your divorce all day every day, and your work, as well as your emotional state, can suffer.
If it’s something really important, it can wait until your lunch break. If it’s your ex-partner messaging you, it’s best not to speak to them at all because it’s likely to stir up unwanted emotions that will only hurt not help you.
4. Look after yourself
When you’re starting to feel stressed at work or emotional about your divorce, try going for a walk or doing some breathing exercises. It might be useful to keep a positive quote or a picture of a loved one on your desk to look at when you’re feeling down.
You could even create a schedule of relaxing and positive tasks to carry out each day. Some examples might include taking a relaxing bath before work on a Monday, going to the Gym after work on a Wednesday, etc.
Sticking to a schedule like this, and doing everything on the list even when you don’t want to, may help you get through your divorce and achieve a successful work-life balance.
5. Be careful who you speak to
Sharing your load with close work colleagues can be tempting, but make sure you’re careful who you speak to or speak in front of. It’s a shame but there are people in offices who like to share gossip and wouldn’t think twice about discussing your juicy divorce details with others.
The last thing you want when you’re at work, trying not to think about your divorce, is to hear two people having a gossip about it.
6. Stay organised
With negative thoughts of your divorce going around your head at work all day, it’s easy to lose track of what you’re doing or let important information shared by a colleague slip through your fingers.
To stay on track and make sure you’re performing as well as you can, you should:
- Take lots of notes
- Use a diary to write down what you’re working on and any important meetings you have coming up
- Write up to-do lists for the day so you don’t miss anything
Being as organised as possible will really help you keep your work-life balance in check.
Ready to Get Your Career Back on Track During Your Divorce?
In this post, we’ve shared six ways to achieve a work-life balance as you go through a divorce. These tips will help you towards a healthy work-life balance, but there are also other universal foundations to consider.
Whatever challenges you are facing in life, eating healthily, exercising, taking up new hobbies, and staying in touch with family and friends will all massively improve your chances of coping and thriving. These will, in turn, reduce your stress and make you more able to perform your job well.
As long as you are willing and able to try your best to get through this emotionally trying time, you have every chance of achieving a healthy work-life balance during your divorce.