7 Ways to Keep Work Stress Out of Your Relationship

Now more than ever, it is important that we strive to gain and maintain work-life balance. According to one study, 52 percent of employees say that job demands interfere with family or home responsibilities, while 43 percent say that home and family responsibilities interfere with job performance. These statistics show just how overworked people are, especially when they feel as if their home life is interfering with their work.

As a psychologist, I see it as a stress cycle. The stress at work causes stress at home, and then the stress of neglecting home affects the person's work performance and further increases their stress at work. In this economy, people are working around the clock so it appears that personal things (that they should be able to do) seem to interfere with their job performance.

Right now some people have the responsibilities of 2-3 different roles. Their job day starts earlier and ends later, and everyone has one, if not two cell phones. People are working so much that they don't have the time and energy to maintain work-life balance and healthy relationships.

When things get out of balance and their personal relationship becomes stressed, that stress will seep into their work life. It seems that personal responsibilities are impinging upon work because work has become so demanding that it prevents people from getting home early to spend time with family or from having time during the day to call their significant other.

It is really important to maintain work-life balance, and to make sure that you don't bring the stress of work home and allow it to sabotage the potentially positive time you should be spending at home with your family. You may feel like coming home and venting for hours, but that will probably just make things worse.

Here are seven tips for ways to keep the stress of work out of your home life:

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I recently discussed this topic on the CBS Early Show. Check out the video:

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© 2011 Dr. Michelle Callahan

 

 

 

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Comments

[Doc Orman MD]

11:59 AM on 10/11/2011

I've found that rather than separating home and work and looking at how one affects the other, it is much more fruitful to look at underlying thought patterns and behavior patterns that cause stress in both arenas. For example, to relieve much of the stress at work, you need to have good relationship skills. So if your relationship skills aren't as good as they could be, or if you have some patterns that are not conducive to good relationships, stress will show up both at work and at home as a consequence.

[work from home]

09:36 AM on 10/11/2011

Stay at home and eat biscuits :)

[David4FreePress]

05:16 PM on 10/10/2011

A lot of good points. I think the bottom line is to minimize stress venting in the marriage by finding alternate venting methods. This makes the marriage a positive source of energy. Meditation helps with stress, as does exercising, and even exercing together.

[David Balmer]

02:19 AM on 10/10/2011

What is worse than bitching about work after your get home? Bitching about not finding a job or being unemployed. I honestly do have some aggravations with my wife (Doctor, working for the Swiss Disability Insurance) complaining about this and that after work. All those highly educated medical people in that office, and they have the same bullsh.t, that everyone else has. I really have it good in the cargo / courier office at the airport. Extremely social, lots of physical movement, lots of office work, dealing with the customs and doing imports and exports etc. The best job that I have ever had! But who wants to hear that when you get home? Nobody! Time to complain and share it all with your partner. I think that the house should be a neutral island paradise, where negatives are left outside. Hard to do though, really.

[Pelican1983]

01:28 AM on 10/10/2011

I vote for separate bedrooms and bathrooms.

In every case!

[justwhendoesitend]

05:19 PM on 10/09/2011

Why to people have to be told via some article what common sense ought to tell you?

[frank day]

03:41 PM on 10/09/2011

We shut off the phones at dinnertime (about 7p) and they remain off for everybody

except for close family.

We also limit talk of finances to a weekly budget meeting on Saturday mornings.

This works for us, your mileage may vary.

[Dr. Michelle Callahan]

07:46 PM on 10/09/2011

Love those ideas! Glad to hear that both you and your partner are willing to agree on it and see the positive impact.

[annyperl]

11:57 AM on 10/09/2011

Thanks for the great article! I've been feeling so stressed lately, that it really influenced my relations with husband..I'm always angry and irritated(( Thanks again! Will try improving the situation :)

[justwhendoesitend]

05:24 PM on 10/09/2011

Good gosh do you communicate to your husband? He is the one person who should care the most about you. If you can not figure how to reduce the stress with him, you have more serious problems with your relationship. Not say these are not good suggestions but they petty much are common sense. I certainly would not go to a Dr to get this advice. I would hope everyone by the time they got to be and adult would develop coping skills with life's ups and downs.

[Dr. Michelle Callahan]

07:44 PM on 10/09/2011

So glad to hear you enjoyed the article. Despite what anyone else says, in my professional experience people do find these things harder to do than they sound, especially when both partners feel so stressed. Good luck with bringing the stress down and the intimacy back up:)

[rockgod]

10:23 AM on 10/09/2011

Disconnect Electronically! Sounds So Good To My Ears :)!