Simply put, positive or negative events in your personal life will impact your work life. And vice versa. This is true, no matter how much we try to play this concept down in Hospitality.
Whether the events in question are major or minor, they are never easy to navigate. It could be the onset of a sudden health challenge or a problem a loved one is going through, or urgent issues related to your home, and you suddenly face having to deal with those things while working long hours in a demanding profession.
You might or might not be lucky enough to be surrounded by people with empathy for your situation. But nevertheless, there are some things that you can and must do to support yourself. This is what I learnt when dealing with work life spillover in my own life during a recent family bereavement:
- You might want or have to postpone dealing with the difficulty: We lead our lives from one shift to the next. When something threatens to interrupt that flow, we simply want to postpone dealing with the emergency until we are done with work. Sometimes you are just putting off handling complex emotions (in my case, grief) or making decisions on how to deal with the emergency itself. Is this a healthy approach? Probably not, but it is very much a symptom of modern life.
- But you will have to address the personal challenge eventually: You get to a point where it takes a lot of your energy to keep going as if everything is normal. No doubt, you are also then less effective in your professional life. Until I dealt with the grief each time it came up, I was just going through the motions at work. So I encourage you to do your best to make the time and space to deal with your challenge.
- Not everyone will understand your situation: But that does not mean you are not supported. Quite often others might not know how to support you. So you have to be clear in stating what you require. Whether you need to request time off (like I did) or to swap your shifts or get someone else to cover for you temporarily, make sure you ask for it.
- You need to feel seen: More than anything, being witnessed brings great relief. Only I could fully understand my loss, but it was so important that others knew what was going on. So do not hesitate to reach out to friends or loved ones or even a helpline for support.
- Be kind to yourself: Most of us are ambitious about our work in this industry. So encountering personal challenges can be viewed as a professional setback. But the truth is that to do good work, you have to bring your whole self to your craft. Even if it takes time for you to fully resolve that personal challenge, doing so will only benefit your career.
I hope this has been of value to you – whether you are going through a personal challenge yourself currently, or whether you encounter one in the future. Share in the comments if you learned anything else from your own experience of work life spillover .