3 Steps to Keep a Personal Crisis From Taking Over Your Work

“I’m sorry. She is no more.”

Many of us have been there. Your phone rings at an odd hour. The trembling voice at the other end sinks your heart. Before you can even phrase your question, your throat feels chocked. And those few seconds change your life forever, challenging you to live without the person you never imagined losing. Or if it was anticipated, the emotional turmoil is still there to freeze you for hours, days, weeks, or even months.

While I am not an expert therapist to guide anyone out of this phase, what I can certainly share is my experience of getting back to work after losing my mother and 3 other close relatives in a span of 40 days. So here are the 3 steps to help you navigate through if you ever find yourself in such a position.

1.??????Communicate to your immediate and extended team CLEARLY

This may sound obvious -- make sure to inform your team immediately. You do not need to share all the details about what actually happened and when do you intend to return to office, but just let them know that you are not available for at least next one week.

Such moments can be emotionally draining and making smooth arrangements to handover your pending tasks is often far from thought. But if you are working on something urgent, consider delegating it to a trusted colleague.

It’s more like an emergency lever that you pull in your fast-paced corporate life. Everyone needs to know so they can come together to fill the temporary void in work processes during your absence.

2.??????Take Your Room to Breathe, Unwind, and Restore – WITHOUT Guilt

When I finally pulled that “emergency lever” on my mother’s death, I really felt that now there’s no way back. It was not entirely about the innate sense of responsibility to deliver at work. It was about how I felt -- purposeless, lost, and ungrounded all of a sudden. ?

In situations like these, breathe deeply, take a few steps back, and let everything go for a while. The ONLY thing that matters right now is your family, the person you lost, and your overall well-being. Everything else will settle. I was super fortunate to get support above and beyond from my entire team, but if that’s not the case with you – it’s still okay. Define your boundary, take a few days off, and give yourself a good space to pick the momentum again.

You don’t need to explain why you aren’t at your best right now. Good days will come, and you will deliver beyond your call of duty again. Just float on the bare minimum. Survive.

3.??????Seek Help.

I can’t emphasize this enough. At least I have not come across even a single person till date who knows my needs and expectations without me communicating them. Once you start showing up at work, your colleagues will forget what you passed through. Don’t get me wrong – there are still some super empathic people who will occasionally check-in with you to see if everything’s okay. But don’t wait for someone to reach out.

If you feel exhausted, zoned out, and drained, just let those around you know that you need a helping hand even to complete the bare minimum. You might be surprised to see how caring they turn out to be. Don’t be afraid of how this may affect your performance review or overall repute; this is just not the right time for such discussions.

Bottom line: it’s a long journey of healing with a lot of highs and lows. The key to minimizing any adverse impact on your career is to communicate timely and clearly. Let your team know what you are going through, prioritize your well-being, and seek help wherever needed. It won’t make you look weak; it will strengthen your core.?