In our culture we spend a significant amount of time in a working environment. Whether some one is self-employed or working for or with someone else, it occupies most of our waking time (and sometime even intrudes into our sleep by keeping us awake) and usually generates work-family conflicts. Having a family or other care-giving responsibilities on the top adds more layers to a typical job demand and its stresses. Research suggests that work-family conflicts can have serious impact on both physical and mental health including depression, burnout and other stress-related adversities.

A mata-analysis (many research studies analyzed together) published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health suggested that high demands of work and low social support are potential risk factors for various mental health issues. Given the competitive nature of modern work culture, this seems to be a common complaint among people I meet regularly.

Though we may not able to change the work culture immediately yet we all have the mental capacity to learn few techniques which helps in moderating the toxic impact of work-family conflicts. A recent study published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior indicated that mindfulness helps in moderating work-family conflicts, optimize decision-making and facilitates the employees to be more present in their day to day life.