For Virginia spouses, divorce is one of the most difficult things that they will deal with in their life. The process is one of both grieving and stress. This is compounded if there is a legal battle. It is little wonder that many people find that their productivity at work slips during this time. However, that can land them in trouble with the supervisor.
The key to avoiding fallout at work is communication. One should pull their boss aside for a conversation early in the process. If management has resources to support the employee, the boss may offer it. At a minimum, the supervisor would know that a dropoff in performance does not come from lack of motivation or laziness. However, one should be careful about putting the details of the divorce out there among their coworkers given the tendency of people to talk.
While work performance may be affected, one can minimize the effects by doing the necessary emotional work to recover from the divorce as it is happening. Understanding and forgiving are keys to moving on quickly. However, one should not try to bury themselves in their job as a means of distraction. This just papers over the issues of a divorce that need to be addressed and simply postpones the problems to a later date. They will need to be dealt with at some time.
One way to keep divorce from overcoming every other aspect of life is to get some distance from the process. Hiring a divorce attorney can free up emotional bandwidth to continue performing at work and to get the necessary emotional help. The attorney may also be able to assist their client in keeping the divorce from spiraling out of control by giving them a reality check on their position if it is too extreme.
