“I’m teaching right now which just takes up a lot of my free time with grading, lesson planning and emailing parents. At John Carroll, it felt easier to balance class with other commitments, but now I feel like I have so many obligations that feel more real that it just eats up at my time.”
This quote, from Grace Sherban ’25, reflects an experience that is not uncommon among young adults entering the workforce: difficulty in separating work from personal time.
Katie Huba, who is the research coordinator for Thomas Frazier, Ph.D. in the psychology department and a supervision coordinator for the ABA graduate program, shared her thoughts on why this difficulty occurs.
During college, “everything [school, dining, fitness, etc.] has been integrated into one… this is your whole life.” However, “then you have to get a professional job and it can be difficult to see those lines… you have to learn how to separate business and pleasure.” After four years of a life unseparated, this change can be difficult to navigate. This change can especially be difficult because “every profession has its own demands.” Because of this, “it takes a long time to learn how to set boundaries,” Huba said.
So, how does one actually set these boundaries and begin to healthily separate work and personal life?
One must begin by “connecting with your goals and values as a professional and in your personal life,” according to Huba. From here, you can see where these two overlap and where they do not; and therefore where separation needs to happen.
Additionally, one must continually practice mindfulness, which means being present in the moment. Mindfulness is important because the alternative is ruminating, which is not good for mental health. “We ruminate a lot on the things that upset us with our work and then we take that home to our private life,” Huba stated. Ruminating on work issues during one’s private life adds to the lack of separation between the spheres.
Huba also recommended some books that can help with these ideas: “The Happiness Trap” and “The Confidence Gap,” both by Russ Harris.
As some final thoughts, Huba stated that “practicing grace is a huge part of this next chapter” and that “I think I speak for the whole John Carroll community, staff, and faculty in saying that we’re excited for you guys and there’s always a home back at JCU.”
While it can be difficult to set boundaries and separate work from personal time, it is very important for positive mental health. So, hopefully this article has helped to take some of the “scaries” out of separating work from personal time.
