Ana – Portfolio #2

Boundaries at work regarding personal life are insidiously blurry to employees. Making phone calls at work, using the work phone to call their loved ones, going to the bathroom to send and receive text messages, giving excuses to get off earlier are common mistakes, that surely would jeopardize the employee’s image before his employer. A massive number of people mix both sides of their lives very often, and this habit damages productivity at work as well as soothing moments of leisure with family. Maintaining work life apart from personal matters seem to be a tricky issue for most people, when it should not be.

Employees should prioritize what comes first to them at the moment, if it is sticking with their job or taking care of their children, for instance. Feeling guilty for not being present enough when someone has a child ought not to happen. The employee has to balance tasks and not give up his personal life at the same time, or else it will gradually become overwhelming. Dwelling on what is going on with your child at work harms self-steem and stresses people out. Due to this, people should always be organized and have a backup plan in case they have to work an extra hour or their child is sick or if the child needs extra care. Therefore, employees wouldn’t have to make phone calls during the work time, because they wouldn’t be worried about what’s going on with their child.

Rebecca Fernandes, a single mother, has a sick 2-year-old daughter at home and has no one to take care of  her child. However, she calls her parents or relatives to take care of her baby while she’s at work, and when they cannot she hires a professional nanny agency for these hours. She emphasizes that it’s an enriching experience because it turned out to be grandparent’s time with the baby.

What cannot happen is being unhappy, incensed and overpowered at having to go to work everyday. If people are not happy with her job they should give it up or find another one, because it’s almost certain that these people won’t be able to climb the success ladder in their career. Going to work has to be pleasant or else it will be a sing that the employees’ future in the company is bound to fail.