There’s always more work to be done….am I right? But if you allow your work to bleed over into your home life too much, both will suffer—and so will you.
One of the most productive things anyone can do is set definite limits on the work you bring home. Sometimes working at home is unavoidable, and that’s fine. But when it becomes a norm to work all day, then come home and work through the evening, you are sapping your energy and reducing your productivity. And nobody wins that game.
This isn’t just an assumption. The burnout that results from allowing the spillover of work into home life has been studied in depth and detail, even resulting in a test called the Maslach Burnout Inventory. When you overextend yourself and don’t get enough downtime, it’s not just your home life that suffers. You’ll tend to do your job less effectively, your health declines, you feel less engaged and motivated in your work, and you may even end up more prone to depression.
So yes, limits are essential. And if you want some help in keeping those limits in place, there’s no better way than sharing them with those around you.
If you’ve decided not to work after 7 pm, tell your wife or husband and the kids. They’ll hold you to it, believe me! And both your work life AND your home life, not to mention your personal wellbeing, will be better for