Boundaries

Establish some professional boundaries that keep work issues at work and home issues at home. We live in a world that hardly lacks for connectivity. Even my mother, one of the last people I knew to get a cell phone, finally broke down and acquired a Blackberry this month. She even knows how to use it! With the advent of the internet, text messages, online chat, and e-mail, we are never out of reach. We ought to do a better job of separating our work and home lives because conflict doesn’t always know how to stay where you put it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sitting in a family dinner with my mom and stepdad and the home phone rings with a work call they absolutely have to take because it’s from one of their factories. They do a pretty good job of balancing work life with home life, but they can do better and so can most of us, including me. Your children will know they are your priority at home and your co-workers will be assured that they have your full attention at the office.