Calling It A Day!

Each day, you put in eight or more long hours of hard work in the office. You do your very best to meet every deadline, even the impossible ones. And at the end of most days, you're tired and want to get home as quickly as you can so you can be with your family, relax and perhaps kick back a little with a good book or some TV.

Yet, sometimes your job may also entail socializing after work in the evenings, or on weekends. Perhaps it's a retirement party, an observance of a co-workers promotion, a company picnic or a myriad of other occasions where your presence is not necessarily required but still suggested.

Here are three easy strategies for handling the demands of work-related social activities

Look at the big picture.
Examine in your mind the importance of the social gathering and then decide how vital your attendance is. For example, if it's an informal gathering at a local watering hole among people in your immediate office, its probably OK to skip it. However, if the event is a cocktail party honoring one of your company's top sales performers, you should be there.

Minimize your excuse quotient.
The last thing you want is to constantly be perceived as the one person in the office who is always making an excuse not to attend an after hours office get-together. Sure, there are times when you'll have a genuine reason for not going. But if you continually have a ready excuse for not attending, co-workers may think that you're going out of your way to avoid them in a social situation.

Have a plan in place.
For those after hours occasions that you do attend, especially the ones you know you have to but don't really want to, plan in advance how long you will spend at the gathering. Attending in the first place is the important thing...and if you've announced early on that you need to get home by 7:30 pm to get your kids ready for bed, everyone will likely understand.