Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Why You Should Keep Your Personal Life Out of the Office

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Why You Should Keep Your Personal Life Out of the Office Only nearly 10 years later am I ready to admit how much work time I spent planning my wedding. It was just so easy to procrastinate by surfing the Web for flower ideas and bridesmaid dresses. And the caterer could only chat with me during business hours, so… The biggest time suck is…your life Although work/life boundaries are more blurred than ever, spending too much work time on personal tasks will lead you to be much less productive. Here is where I expect you’re ready to quibble with me. Since we now check work email at home and finish work-related tasks after our kids go to sleep, shouldn’t we be able to borrow some time back at the office? The short answer is yes, except it’s a slippery slope because we do not limit the time we borrow back. At all. From what I’ve seen, many people will spend exactly as much work life on personal tasks as they can get away with and others will simply not pay attention. From chatting away to a spouse and scheduling a doctor’s appointment to researching a vacation and buying a new grill for the weekend barbecue, it’s easy to use upwards of a quarter of work time engaged in tasks that have nothing to do with the job. For advice on how to achieve the right balance, check out the full post on Intuits Fast Track blog.