3 Invaluable Tips to Balance Your Love Life and Career ...

1. Understand Your Priorities and Shift as Necessary

You’re never going to get an easy ride where your career and love life have equilibrium in the attention they’re demanding from you. That's why you need to learn how to balance your love life and career. There will be times when priorities clash and times when one becomes more important than the other. If you’re smart, you don’t need to sacrifice one for the other. You need to shift and accommodate and adjust. Your partner should be aware that your career is an essential part of you and you can communicate how important that next promotion is so they will understand why you need to work late for the next few weeks. Your bosses should also realize that there are times when you can’t work the weekend because you’re going away with your partner. If you have successfully communicated to your partner and your boss or colleagues how important they are in your life, shifting priorities should not create issues.

2. Compartmentalise so You Are Focused

Achieving a successful balance between love and work means keeping both worlds happy. The best way to do that is to keep both worlds separate. One should not rely on the other, nor should one gain or lose at the cost of the other. This simply means that when you are at work, you focus on your work and when you are with your significant other, you focus on them and your relationship. Of course, that doesn’t mean closing off the two worlds from each other. It just means that you shouldn't bring your relationship to work or take your work home. Don’t allow either to distract you from the other. If you focus, both your relationship and career will benefit from the attention they receive from you.

A note of caution here though. Compartmentalising doesn’t mean shutting your partner out entirely when you’re at work. Take 5 minutes every day to touch base. A short email or a meaningful text just to let him know how special he is goes a long way toward staying connected.

3. Be a Time Management Fiend

No one should ever pretend that careers and relationships are not hard work. Both require time, attention and dedication to thrive. Your career is probably the easiest to manage because you know your goals, you have deadlines and you have working hours and a timetable. There’s no need to go to the same lengths for your relationship, but you need to organise5 your life so that you do allow and plan time for your SO. Make sure he is aware of your crucial work times. If you have to work on a weekend, plan a special date night just before or after. Equally, ensure that your boss knows that you are just as committed to your relationship as you are to your work and that you value professional success.

I’d just like to add something else. Sometimes, we have to make a choice. Sometimes, we have to know when to quit. It might be that your career becomes so demanding that you are finding less and less time to spend on your relationship. It might be that your relationship is demanding more and more attention and things are slipping at work. There are various things you can try to regain the balance. Re-evaluate your love life. Is this the relationship you want to be in long term and is it worth taking a breather in your career for? Look at your job. Can you talk to your boss about fewer hours or make a more efficient work schedule? At the end of the day, only you can decide which is your priority if you cannot balance them both.

Quitting your job for one with less pressure or walking away from a relationship doesn’t make you a failure. It means you are strong and know what you want!