Member Blogs

Does Divorce Effect the Workplace?

When I was first separated from my husband I had a hard time telling anyone outside my family. At the time of the separation I worked at a small law firm as an Estate Administrator. Since we lived in a small town and the firm was made up of only a few people we all knew each other and our family members.

It was very awkward for me to tell my bosses that I was separated. In fact it took me a few months before I told them and in fact I only told one of my bosses - I was so emotional I asked if he could tell the other partner in the firm what was going on.

I often times look back on that time and wonder whether or not my fear of telling my boss that I was separated impacted my work at all. Looking back on that time now I guess I tried to initially compartmentalize my life and tried to pretend that it wasn't happening when I was at work. By doing this I felt like I was able to keep the emotions out of the workplace and focus on my job - until the fateful day when I revealed the separation to my boss.

I wonder now if that was truly effective. I wonder, did my work suffer? Was this really the right thing to do? I guess you could say I did what I needed to do to survive or get through it.

I am curious what others have done when faced with a similar situation. When you were going thru your separation and ultimately divorced did you tell anyone other than your immediate family? Were you able to separate your home situation from your work? Do you feel your work suffered in anyway during this time of turmoil and transition?