by Dolores Moore

Created on: January 14, 2009

It is often difficult to switch off from the hectic demands of your job. While you are in there, just doing it, there is rarely time to stop and think, to talk it over, to get reassurances that your decisions are the right ones. So when it is time to go home, all the questions and doubts lie unresolved; you hold them in your mind, chasing around like crazy little white mice, and they go home with you. You are taking your problems home from work.

This can have both an upside and a downside. If we look at the positives first, you could imagine that time away from work allows you to examine the problems, to step back and be objective and to find solutions more easily with less pressure. I can relate to that situation, as I could talk things over, get an outsider's opinion and also good advice from my partner. But doing this habitually, leads eventually to more negative outcomes. I know this from experience. Sooner or later, the concerned, helpful partner will become bored and possibly resentful that all you want to do is talk about work. They start to tell you to leave it behind, that it is encroaching on quality family time and taking over your life. They state, with complete good sense "There is more to life than work."

Very true, and maybe those who live alone will take a little longer to reach that conclusion. They need to go out and meet friends, or have friends in. But if they take problems home from work, they will soon bring conversations around to those very problems. Once again, if this becomes a habit, friends will become less "available" shall we say? What looks like a positive result of taking problems home from work, eventually turns negative.

And there are even more negative aspects to consider. If you are unable to clear your mind and leave those problems behind at the door of the workplace, you are storing up trouble. As suggested earlier, family relationships can be affected. You will become stressed, your physical and mental health is at risk. You will find yourself feeling more tired, maybe unable to eat or sleep properly and more important than anything else, work takes over you whole life. You could be putting yourself at risk of a heart attack or mental breakdown, in the worst case scenarios.

Stop, think, step back from it and look at your life. You may earn a decent salary, worry about security, want that promotion, but the company does NOT own you, heart and soul. Do a great job when you are there, but leave it behind, where it belongs, when you head for home. Take steps to relax and enjoy your family and friends, all the small things in life too, the good things that have little to do with money, status, promotion or work. You are more important than any problem in your job. So stop taking your problems home from work.

Learn more about this author, Dolores Moore.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.