Divorce has a way of bleeding into other aspects of your life, including work. Read our blog to learn how to deal with divorce at work and begin the healing process.
How to Deal with Divorce at Work
By: Melissa M. Williams
Divorce has a way of bleeding into other aspects of your life. From relationships with your family and friends to productivity at work, your divorce probably isn’t doing you any favors. Unless you are one of the (extreme) few with supernatural compartmentalization skills, it’s normal to feel distracted and emotional about your divorce during working hours. Keep reading for some tips to help you deal with your divorce at work.
Tip #1: You’re Less Alone Than You Think
Going through a divorce often seems isolating, but many people have gone through the same thing. Divorce isn’t uncommon, and you might find a sympathetic ear in more places than you might expect.
Telling your family and close friends about the end of a marriage is hard, and telling your boss or HR rep probably seems impossible, but the reality is you may need to let them know what’s happening in your life. Unfortunately, divorce takes time and may require you to take time off. It’s always better to be upfront with your leaders about needing to take time off to deal with a divorce. You might find that your boss is a veteran of divorce who can empathize with you.
Tip #2: Focus Isn’t a Bad Thing
Try not to use work as a crutch to avoid divorce, but refocusing on professional goals can be a positive way to find stability in an unstable situation. Many people change their careers or alter their professional goals to be more compatible with their partner’s aspirations, but this can sometimes mean that they sacrifice opportunities to strengthen their relationship.
While it’s completely normal to change and grow alongside your partner, you should still have your own dreams and goals. When your divorce is fresh, you likely feel lost and uncertain about what you want from life moving forward. By establishing clear, attainable career goals, you are taking control of your professional life, which can help you start to pick up the pieces in other areas.
These goals can include:
- Learning a new skill related to your job
- Asking for more responsibility (within reason)
- Participating in office activities
- Improving output/sales/deliverables
- Strengthening a weak area
Your goals should be doable – don’t set the bar too high only to get discouraged. You can gradually increase your goals to continue your development.
Tip #3: Don’t Neglect the Healing Process
It’s important to focus on getting your life back together, but remember that divorce is a significant life change and healing is never a linear process. You’ll have good days and bad days, but those bad days don’t last forever.
There’s no shame in getting the help you need to recover from a divorce. If you need support from family, friends, coworkers, or leaders, allow yourself to depend on them. The divorce process doesn’t leave much time to cope with complicated emotions, so take those feelings as they come and rely on your support network to begin the road to recovery.
Bonus Tip: Get Peace of Mind Before Your Divorce is Finalized
It may sound impossible, but you can have some peace of mind before your divorce is over. A significant source of stress during a divorce is navigating the legal aspects of your case. Qualified attorneys provide guidance throughout the divorce, and they can attend to the legal details so you can focus on the healing process.
Schedule a consultation with our compassionate legal advocate. Contact Melissa M. Williams today.