Americans are working longer hours than ever in history - and that includes pre-union, sweatshop days.
Part of the problem is our constant connectivity: there are some of us who take e-mails at all hours of the day, simply because they enter our Inbox.
We also work more because of our reliance on our careers to define our self-worth.
No one wants to worry that someone else in the office - or in the industry - is doing it better.
While some employees never learn how to balance the various demands of home and office, the best ones do.
The plain fact is that employees - and managers - who ultimately succeed do so because they learn that home should never be work, and work should never be home.
I once had an employee whose home problems became the focus of my entire office.
Having been twice divorced and with a whole lot of children from both marriages, he was shocked when his newest wife called and complained that the state had commandeered most of his paycheck for back child support - and her in need of a mani-pedi! I have to admit to a certain, shall we say, pissiness, just about this guy's lifestyle.
Listening to his complaints about how his children were complete life-vacuums because they needed coats and notebook paper just brought out the worst in me.
If this low-life snake employee had just kept his private life private, I would probably have only been mildly dismayed by his shoddy work product.
However, with the added distraction of his disregard for his children's feelings, every little typo had the same effect on me as if he had lost an entire account.
I just couldn't help it.
There probably aren't many people who have never had a problem them didn't affect his or her workday.
However, these issues are going to drive significantly less sympathy from your boss and colleagues if they are (a) of your own making, or (b) crap they have to listen to all the time.
If you have a problem at home that you know could affect your work, it's in your best interest to tell your boss about it.
Make your explanation as brief and unemotional as possible, and ensure your boss that while you are having some short-term difficulty in dealing with the situation, you will not allow this situation to become a long-term crisis for the office.
The best way to keep your private life out of your professional life is not to bring it there.
When you are beaten down by the nagging wife, the critical husband, the ungrateful kids, it's probably going to benefit you in the long run not to complain to your co-workers - and especially not to use these problems as an excuse for your performance shortcomings.
Everyone has problems at home or little issues that come up - but if you do your job well and explain that there is a problem without totally trashing those whom you are meant to be gathering to your proverbial bosom, nobody is going to hold it against you.
Part of the problem is our constant connectivity: there are some of us who take e-mails at all hours of the day, simply because they enter our Inbox.
We also work more because of our reliance on our careers to define our self-worth.
No one wants to worry that someone else in the office - or in the industry - is doing it better.
While some employees never learn how to balance the various demands of home and office, the best ones do.
The plain fact is that employees - and managers - who ultimately succeed do so because they learn that home should never be work, and work should never be home.
I once had an employee whose home problems became the focus of my entire office.
Having been twice divorced and with a whole lot of children from both marriages, he was shocked when his newest wife called and complained that the state had commandeered most of his paycheck for back child support - and her in need of a mani-pedi! I have to admit to a certain, shall we say, pissiness, just about this guy's lifestyle.
Listening to his complaints about how his children were complete life-vacuums because they needed coats and notebook paper just brought out the worst in me.
If this low-life snake employee had just kept his private life private, I would probably have only been mildly dismayed by his shoddy work product.
However, with the added distraction of his disregard for his children's feelings, every little typo had the same effect on me as if he had lost an entire account.
I just couldn't help it.
There probably aren't many people who have never had a problem them didn't affect his or her workday.
However, these issues are going to drive significantly less sympathy from your boss and colleagues if they are (a) of your own making, or (b) crap they have to listen to all the time.
If you have a problem at home that you know could affect your work, it's in your best interest to tell your boss about it.
Make your explanation as brief and unemotional as possible, and ensure your boss that while you are having some short-term difficulty in dealing with the situation, you will not allow this situation to become a long-term crisis for the office.
The best way to keep your private life out of your professional life is not to bring it there.
When you are beaten down by the nagging wife, the critical husband, the ungrateful kids, it's probably going to benefit you in the long run not to complain to your co-workers - and especially not to use these problems as an excuse for your performance shortcomings.
Everyone has problems at home or little issues that come up - but if you do your job well and explain that there is a problem without totally trashing those whom you are meant to be gathering to your proverbial bosom, nobody is going to hold it against you.
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