At The Intersection of Work and Personal

Thanks to Jana @ Daily Money Shot for this guest post
For most of us, work is a necessity. We need to work to earn money to pay for things like housing, food, transportation, clothes, utilities and the occasional splurge. If you’re like me, you like to leave your personal life at home and your work life at work. But what happens if something personal occurs and there’s no way possible to take time off without losing money? I’d be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t had a day where her personal life hasn’t encroached upon her ability to do her job. 
If you are ever in that type of situation, here are a few things I’d recommend doing so that you can handle your personal affairs without compromising your employment:
1.    
            Check out your emergency fund. No one expects a death in the family, a serious illness or even severe marital problems. I classify these situations as emergencies, especially if you’re time and energy are better spent at home. Try to calculate how much money you earn per day and determine how many days of unpaid work you might be able to pull off without a) losing your job and b)completely depleting the emergency fund.
2.       
      Talk to your boss. I used to work for the devil. This woman was literally evil in human form. But even she has some sort of soul when it came to personal problems. If at all possible, talk to your boss to see if you can negotiate some sort of flexible schedule or a temporary work from home situation. Make sure you’re very clear about time frames and your boss’s expectations for you. You don’t want to seem like you are taking advantage of your boss’s willingness to work with you.
3.      
      Designate certain times during the day to deal with your issues. When you’re in the throes of a crisis, it’s easy for it to become all consuming, even at work. It’s easy to forget why you’re at work. To prevent getting into trouble, pick certain times of the day where you will exclusively deal with your problem. For instance, make travel arrangements during your lunch break. Schedule appointments before or after work. Use email instead of the phone. 
4.       
      Don’t bother your coworkers with your problems. Most of us like to have an ear to listen. Since we spend so much time with our coworkers, it’s easy to rely on them as a sounding board.  But using your coworkers as a personal support network can get tricky for two reasons. One, it can compromise boundaries and two, it can make you the subject of workplace gossip. Neither of these is at all beneficial to your career.
5.    
           Make sure you’re fulfilling your job expectations and meeting deadlines.  We go to work in order to work. Sometimes that’s hard to do, especially in the middle of personal drama, but you still need to make sure that you’re adhering to deadlines, showing up to meetings on time, actively engaging when required, and completing all work that’s required of you. Personal drama is not an excuse to skimp on your work obligations, even if you are struggling with getting them done.  If you’re having trouble, try to set mini-time goals. Tell yourself, “I will finish this report and respond to these emails. After that, I can take 10 minutes to call the attorney (or the hospital or the kids’ school or the whatever).”  This shows that you are capable of handling both work and personal business effectively.
When personal crises and emergencies arise, it’s easy to have work take a back seat. After all, this is your life! But you want to make sure that when the crisis has passed, you still have a job to return to. There’s no need to replace one crisis with another.

Have you ever had a personal crisis or emergency that impacted your ability to work? How did you handle it?