What do you do if your electronic engineering career is taking over your personal life?

Look at what you're spending your time on, but also think about why you're doing it. Is this being demanded by management? Are you trying to go above and beyond in hopes of advancement? Do you really enjoy spending the time on this? Are you using this as a way of avoiding something else in your life? Understanding the reason will let you apply your analytical mind to finding a solution to the root cause, not just the symptom.

When my electronic engineering career starts to dominate my personal life, I address the issue by first assessing the reality of the situation. I track my activities over a week or two to understand how much time I'm dedicating to work versus personal pursuits, noting any patterns such as frequent late-night work sessions or weekend projects. Recognizing these patterns allows me to acknowledge the imbalance and take proactive steps towards achieving a healthier work-life balance, understanding that this self-awareness is essential for personal well-being and professional success.

I recommend to a maintain separate work phone and make sure to turn that off during non working hours of personal time. This way we clean boundaries between work and person life.

So i am an electronics design engineer and Yes i have faced this thing, continuously sitting for more then 13 hours just to design a circuit Even faced backbone pain issues but eventually i started prioritising things and i made up my routine and decided to take breaks to refresh mind and set maximum hours of work and i won’t be working over the maximum work hours such small steps create a huge impact on personal life and help to balance work and personal life

- Recognize when your electronic engineering career is impinging on your personal life. - Set clear boundaries for when you're available for work-related tasks. - Clearly communicate your availability to colleagues and supervisors to manage expectations. - Avoid checking emails or taking work calls outside of designated work hours. - Be assertive in declining additional projects when your workload is already overwhelming to protect your personal time and well-being.

- Determine which tasks and projects are most critical to your electronic engineering career and align with your long-term goals. - Categorize tasks based on urgency and importance to determine which ones require immediate attention and which can be deferred. - Assign less critical tasks to others or postpone them to a later time to free up your schedule for personal activities. - Stick to designated work hours and avoid allowing work to spill over into your personal time. - Continuously evaluate your workload and adjust priorities as needed to ensure a healthy balance between work and personal life.

Taking time off is crucial for recharging. Do things you enjoy that aren't about electronic engineering. Whether it's reading, hiking, or hanging out with loved ones, these activities give your mind a break from work. Remember, downtime isn't wasted time—it helps you be more productive and creative in the long run.

Seeking support requires trust; it can feel and/or be risky to reach out to people in or close to the company where you work. If it's an environment that has shown support for people in such situations in the past, reach out internally, but if not, look elsewhere. Don't hide your challenges from close family and friends, let them support you. If it's a long-term thing, maybe you need to change something in your career, and reaching out to colleagues can become a search for an opportunity that respects your needs.

EE is a substantial part of my life. So what if it encroaches a bit more into my life. I will just enjoy its presence ever more.