No matter what, work happens. For most Americans, work is a priority and family and personal life comes second. And for some people, this is okay—either they’re not missing their personal lives or they’re looking for reasons to escape their families. And other people just really, really love their jobs. But for other people, the prospect of seeing their coworkers more than their family is a problem. Here are three tips to coping.
Put up boundaries
Set limits. There has to be a point where you put your personal life first and your career on the back burner for a bit. It might be your spouse’s birthday, a child’s graduation, or just a chance to catch up with an old friend. Maybe this means you have to take some work home to make up for the missed time, but sometimes that’s totally worth it. Even your tightest personal relationships need a little nurturing now and then. And don’t be afraid to draw boundaries with your personal relationships at work—don’t get dragged into their personal drama if you don’t want to. And don’t feel pressured to always go out after work if you have more important things to do.
Find a job with a mission
It’s a lot easier to go to work every day and spend excessive time there when you love your job and believe in your company’s mission. If your company doesn’t have a meaningful “change the world” mission, then make it your personal mission to always try your best. If you’re knowingly handing in mediocre or sub-par work, it’s hard to get excited about that. But if you’re constantly striving to make sure your team is doing top-notch work and always seeking more knowledge and skills development, that should be enough to keep you motivated and passionate. It makes it a lot easier to spend long hours at work.
Build positive relationships
Since you’re going to be with these people anyway, you might as well make sure you develop positive, mutually beneficial relationships with them. Try to connect with them on a basic level—what do you have in common?—and start to build on those commonalities. Take turns doing favors for one another, thank them when needed, and view them as your team, so that you want what’s best for them and they’ll want what’s best for you. Respect others’ differences and don’t ever exclude anyone. Remember that no matter what you have to spend a lot of time with these people, so you don’t want
If you really can’t accept the situations that you’re spending more time with your coworkers than you are with your family, there’s always the option to leave and find another job. Of course, then you’re jumping into the unknown and who knows? You might be expected to work even longer hours at your next job and your coworkers at your might be truly unbearable. For more tips on staying relevant in the tech industry, contact our team today.
