People who bring their work home create an ever increasing cycle of stress. If this is happening to you, you will find that you never relax or get time away from work. Your sleep quality will be reduced and this makes you even more tired during the day. Your work suffers as a result as you cannot get tasks completed on time or with the same amount of attention and detail.

Not bringing your work home will allow your mental and physical health time to recover. If you don’t give yourself the chance to recover you are putting yourself at greater risk of stress related illness, possible burnout, depression, resentment, etc. So why are you bringing work home with you?

Why Are You Bringing Work Home With You?

As always if you want to change something then you need to know why you are doing it in the first place. Awareness is always the first order of business with change. So why are you taking work home? There are a lot of questions you could explore here, ranging from your own negative thinking and belief patterns, perfectionism, co-dependency issues, to workalcoholism, etc? What is going on in your head right now? Trust your gut here you probably know why you are doing this. What is really going on here?

Money issues

Is it about money issues? I get that, raising five kids with not a lot of money was scary at times. Have you a hang up about not having enough money? I’ve got to ask you is this related to your childhood and money. Or is it genuinely related to financial issues you have. Please speak to MABS if you live in Ireland they can help. Or is it related to your partner’s addiction? Again you can get help here so please reach out for counseling, MABS and legal advice as needed.

 Imposter syndrome

Are you afraid someone will find out you are not good enough? Are you waiting for them to throw you out because they realize you can’t do the job? You have to ask yourself is this imposter syndrome? This is about your own thinking not your work or how much you know and do. It will also spill over into your private life as well so please reach out for therapy.

Are you taking on other people’s responsibilities.

Have you taken on more than is necessary? Are you doing things in work for other people? Perhaps even doing their job, letting them skate on their responsibilities? Is there a similar pattern in your private life? Perfectionism or co-dependency issues might come up here. Again this is about you not the other person, you need support with resolving this, so please reach out for therapy.

Your role has expanded.

Perhaps you are trying to do two jobs instead of the work you were hired for. It can happen to us all. I once worked in a job where when I left they had to hire two people to replace me, my role had expanded that much. We can end up in a similar position over time and not realize it. Your employer might not be aware either because you are so good at what you do.

But at the same time you will burnout quickly if you continue and your employer will just get someone else. This is where you need to speak to your employer about hiring more help. They may refuse and you may need to get a new job. If you find this difficult then a therapist can support you while you ask for help and change things up. But change you have to unless you want to suffer burnout.

These are only some of the questions I would ask myself. Why you bring home work can be very personal to you. You might not like exploring the above questions but if you continue on you will become more stressed. Stress can lead to all sorts of physical and mental health issues, please don’t wait that long, it is simply not worth it!

How to Separate Work Life from Home Life

Stick to your work schedule.

I know it can be hard to get some separation from work these days. Some of you are working from home or splitting your time between home and work, some may work a different schedule than 9 to 5, and some of you may be self-employed. But everyone needs to set a boundary with work times. Designate a set time for work if you don’t have one. Creating a set time in your schedule for work will be one of your first boundaries. If you do have a set work schedule then sticking to it is vital.

Set clear boundaries with your colleagues or employees.

Depending on how you answered the questions above you might need some support with setting boundaries. Even if you don’t need therapy your colleagues will probably find it hard at first when you change things up. You need to decide what you want to do and stick to your guns on this one. It could be a rough few weeks but they’ll accept your new boundaries soon enough. If you think you are dealing with someone very toxic then please safety first and check out my blog for more advice on leaving a toxic workplace.

Have separate email for work and home.

This is about setting boundaries in the workplace. Make sure to set up separate email accounts and phones/tablets for work. That way you can switch them off once your work is finished and it’s a good idea to avoid reading work messages in bed if you want a good night’s sleep. This is a bad habit and like all habits we can change them. So get into the habit of switching off your work phone, etc., before you leave work.

Have a set place to work if you work from home.

If you are self-employed, or work from home, even part-time, then set up a designated office space. That way you don’t have to move anything important every time you finish work. Nor will your partner complain about the dining room table looking messy all the time. The kids can’t destroy anything important either and most of all you can shut the door marking the end of the work day. Don’t be tempted though to go back in there after the kids are in bed. If you do this already again it’s a habit and you can change it. Perhaps lock the door and give your other half the key so you won’t be tempted to go in there. If you don’t have enough space for a home office, then perhaps consider investing in a locked cabinet/desk combination. But I would advise you not to use your bedroom for office work. Again this is about setting a boundary around work and personal space and time.

Make your self-care a priority.

Maintain healthy habits around your self –care. This will be vital in maintaining your physical and mental health. The basic ones I suggest in my self-care blogs will help support you and are a good place to start building boundaries for yourself also. Making time for friends and family is also vital, we are social creatures and as long as these people are positive supports in our lives then we need to make time for them. At the end of the day when work is completed it is our family and friends who are there for us.

My Book.

In my book, The Building Blocks Of Self-Care, I provide easy and quick strategies to get you back feeling rebalanced and more focus in your life. The book also includes all the worksheets you need to take you step by step through the process. You can purchase it on Amazon or through my website.