Advice for Maintaining a Productive Career During and After a Divorce
Divorce is undoubtedly one of the most stressful and emotionally draining life experiences someone can go through, so it’s safe to say that it can have a substantial impact on your career.
Unless you have been unfortunate enough to experience it, the breakdown of a marriage and the effect it can have on pretty much every aspect of a person’s life is very difficult to comprehend. Distraction, a lack of motivation, and in some cases depression can all take their toll on someone’s ability to perform efficiently and productively at work. This can cause short and long-term damage to your career and is something that should be avoided at all costs.
In this post, we’ll highlight a few of the ways people have been able to maintain a productive and successful career while in the midst of even the messiest divorce.
Prioritise Your Well-Being
While there’s no doubt that your career is important, working to the best of your ability will be an uphill struggle if you don’t prioritise your mental health and well-being first. Everyone is different, so therefore the routines and stress-relief tactics they adopt with vary.
Stress can have a particularly severe impact on your well-being, so a healthy diet and regular exercise can be a massive benefit. The latter is especially useful because exercising — whether it’s a daily walk or workout at the gym — will help to improve your mood and energy levels.
Be Honest and Direct with Your Employer
Suffering in silence is one of the worst things you can do when it comes to dealing with divorce and your job. Approaching your employer as well as HR will not only make them aware of the situation, but it will also allow them to provide the necessary support to make life a lot easier for you during this period.
Whether this means taking time off to settle your affairs, reducing your hours, or even working from home for a while — your employer won’t be able to assist you if they are in the dark. Also, if you have been struggling at work recently it’s crucial for your employer to know that this is due to issues outside of the office, rather than your lack of enthusiasm.
Seek the Help of a Specialist Family Lawyer
During a divorce, you’ll find that arguably your most vital asset and ally is your family lawyer. It’s for this reason that your choice of legal representation isn’t something to be taken lightly, and in this case, your best bet is to seek a firm who specialises in family law.
A reputable divorce solicitor will have a vast range of knowledge and years of experience dealing with cases similar to your own, and therefore be able to offer essential advice and efficient legal services. This is especially important for aspects such as money, property and the custody of children as all three will massively affect your life after a divorce.
Make the Most of Your Free Time
Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But a failure to make the most of your leisure time is often a decision that can prove to be especially harmful during a divorce. If you’re someone who tends to bring your work home with you, it’s time to stop, at least for now. A divorce is very tough both for yourself and those around you, so putting time aside to relax or blow off steam will prove to be useful.
Whichever way you choose to do this depends on what makes you happy. You could take a trip, spend more time with your children, embrace some retail therapy, or just relax on the sofa and see what Netflix has to offer. No matter how you spend your evenings or weekends, it’s important to separate your career and personal life. Then you can go to work on a Monday morning fully rested, relaxed, and raring to go.
