When the stresses of your personal life affect your work performance, what tactics do you implement to prevent productivity from taking a complete nose dive?

The more stressed I am then the more regimented I get with my food and exercises which makes my moods optimum even (for me) and helps me sleep more often to offset the dregs of what stress leaches from my body. It’s when I’m not super stressed or all giddy for some reason that I’ll go lax with food, forego sleep and neglect my exercises.

I take a break and try to refocus my energy. Usually taking a few minutes to clear my mind is enough for me to get back on track.

When work gets too much for me, I walk away from it, take a break and perhaps have a coffee. When my mind is focused again, then I will return to the job in hand.

I was only able to do this, not very successfully, for a few weeks. When my personal life disintegrated I was on the verge of retirement anyway. I ultimately was allowed terminal leave until my retirement became effective.

Leave it at the front door. It is hard to do…but it is vital that it is done otherwise take the day off. Especially if you have a dangerous job or one that involves machinery or where your distracted mind could be of a potential danger to others. Not having your head in the game is a huge problem in the workplace and one I have to deal with almost daily. If I know of big head cases here at my workplace, I try and talk with them and if it real real bad, I tell them to take the day off.

I take a break to get my thoughts together.I work out of my home so often I will go for a walk or exercise like a freak to get my mind off of things.

I try and take a day off work if things are that bad.

Even when life is crumbling, I can work. I may cry through it, but I can always do my job. I find that working helps me get through the toughest and most stressful situations by distracting me a bit and keeping me engaged. If I stay home, I sleep to avoid the pain, and it never gets dealt with that way, lasting far longer than if I worked through it.

Unfortunately, personal life and work life aren’t always so easy to compartmentalize. They often spill over into each other.

If you normally do a good job, and if your supervisor’s an intelligent and decent human being, you can tell him/her that you’re facing something very bad and painful outside of work.

You don’t need to spill all of your personal business; just explain that you’re having trouble coping, and that you’re concerned about your job performance. Anyone with the wisdom and intelligence of a snail will know that such things are a part of life and happen to everyone. Anyone with even a small amount of compassion will be supportive. Anyone who appreciates loyalty will understand that you’re not trying to goof off; you’re sincerely worried about compromising your job and your employer. Don’t be surprised if such a person even offers to help you.

I’m like @Jewel in that when my personal life is feeling horrible then going to work makes me feel useful, valuable, distracted and it puts money in my pocket. I’m kind of a typical American I guess, when my relationships have had some instability then I just take on more hours of work because at least work rarely lets me down.

Compartmentalize. While at work all that matters is work. Do not take work home so that home is all that matters at home. Do today what absolutely has to be done today. And take a rest when I get so tired or distracted as to be unproductive. Establish some kind of reward for getting through the situation successfully.