Are you guilty of bringing your workplace bad habits back home?

Brookman Solicitors recent relationships survey* has highlighted which bad habits that are truly annoying our loved ones, indeed a lot of our bad habits are in fact being learnt and brought back from the workplace which are slowly affecting our relationships back home. Once you are aware of the bad behaviours that you may be unwittingly bringing back from the office, you can take the necessary action required to eradicate such habits and restore relationships with loved ones. As a result of the survey in this article Brookman Solicitors reveal exactly the top five bad habits that you are most likely to be guilty of bringing back from the workplace into the home!

• Constantly snacking

“Elevenses”, coffee runs, biscuits in meetings, charity bake sales, birthday cakes and lunches out all lead to a repetitive snacking behaviour, that can easily become the norm for you and incorporated into your daily routine. Therefore when out of the office and back home you are much more prone to continue with constantly snacking which can irritate your partner, cost a lot financially in the long run and can impact on your overall health and weight. Snacking was mentioned within the survey as an annoying habit particularly for those sampled whose partners had a desk job! You can change this bad behaviour with some simple preparation, such as making healthy lunches the night before work or limiting your coffee and tea intake at work. Employers can also promote healthy initiatives, for example removing all unhealthy snacks for sale within the premises or even introducing a “free fruit” scheme.

• Avoiding chores

The top most annoying habit unveiled within the survey was partner’s avoiding chores around the house! This annoying habit can be easily caused by your workplace as your employer will likely have a cleaning team who will be cleaning up on employees’ behalf. Subconsciously you may start to adapt your behaviour back home as a result of the workplace mentality and assumption that another individual will pick up after you, such as leaving clutter in a meeting room or not washing up your cutlery or lunch box, only to find they have been cleaned up the next day by someone else. Unfortunately you cannot expect your partner to do all this for you at home as this can cause a strain on a relationship. If you feel this resonates with your actions why not surprise your partner and start cleaning! Again employers can influence this “avoidance” mentality by promoting a clean culture on work premises where everyone picks up after themselves, for instance introducing a cleaning rota could be a perfect solution.

• Too much technology

Becoming glued to your phone especially with work related communication can considerably annoy your partner; in fact 75% of respondents admitted that technology has had a damaging effect on their relationship. Many of us are addicted to social media now that we can get all the social media platform apps on our phones, and as well as having work emails on smartphones we can easily be led down a downward spiral to technology addiction. Managers can encourage a healthy work life balance by removing the expectation for employees to be on call to respond to any work emails or phone calls outside of work hours.

• Being a chatterbox

Constantly talking about yourself and your day at work to your partner, essentially being a “chatterbox,” is an annoying habit many respondents experienced with their partner. You do need to make sure you are a good listener and are taking the time to ask how your partner’s day was and how their work is going in order to have a balanced relationship. This bad habit also causes issues in workplaces when one individual is persistently talking about themselves as it annoys colleagues and can even prevent others from being able to concentrate on their work.

• Taking out work frustration on your partner

Everyone does get stressed from work from time to time, for instance if a deadline is looming or if a colleague is away. However it is important you do not take the stress out and snap at your partner when back at home in order to not put pressure on your relationship. If you are struggling to cope with your workload for a prolonged period it may me best to schedule a chat with your manager to explain your situation and to see if there is anything that can be done to take the pressure off. Organisations should take a watchful eye over their workforce to ensure they can spot any signs of stress or anger issues in an employee to help nip the issue in the bud before it escalates.