Keeping one’s professional life and personal life separate seems harder than it was before. Office workers find themselves checking their personal social media accounts and are keeping in touch with family and friends while on the company’s dime. On the flip side, working moms and dads have a hard time disconnecting from the office as they continue to deal with work emails at home.
It can be difficult to draw boundaries between your personal and professional life, but work-life balance can be achieved with a bit of discipline and will power.
Here are a few tips on how to keep your personal and professional life separate.
Be in the moment
Commit to being in the moment in both aspects of your life. At the office, focus on your tasks, and aim to be productive throughout the day. At home, be in the moment as you eat dinner with your family or while you’re bonding with your kids. When you make the commitment to be 100 percent present in both your personal and professional life, you’ll find that you perform better as a worker, and you get to be the person that your family needs you to be at home.
Don’t bring your personal issues to the office
No one wants to hear about your relationship problems, the details of your last medical check-up, or the fact that your kid has been caught skipping school for the third time. Don’t discuss your personal problems in your workplace, as your co-workers may think that your problems may cause a dip in your performance. If it’s something that’s really serious, such as a divorce, a death in the family, or the like, then take a day off—or even several days off, if needed—to give yourself enough time to cope.
Keep your personal and professional life separate online
Consider setting up multiple social media accounts to keep your personal and professional life from seeping into each other online. If it’s too much trouble, you could keep Facebook just for family and friends.
But if it’s already too late and you’ve already added your colleagues to your Facebook friends, then be aware of your online activity. Avoid posting anything that would be deemed controversial or inappropriate. Also, be on your best behavior on social media—you’ll never who in your office is keeping track of your Twitter feuds.
For more, check out Jobs & Hire’s report on how to organize your desk for productivity.
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