Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 2: Effective compartmentalization
• Part 2 of 2: Stay in control
• Tips
• Warnings

Compartmentalization is sometimes presented in a negative light, as it means separation of judgment and separate thinking in different areas, especially if they contradict each other. There is, of course, a danger in these conflicts of thought, where separation or compartmentalization can cause serious psychological and emotional conflicts. But in less extreme proportions, it can be a positive mechanism for controlling and enriching life. This includes compartmentalizing work from home so that work stress does not interfere with the comfort of the home. In this article, you will learn how to properly compartmentalize and succeed more in your daily life.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Effective compartmentalization

1. 1 Be aware of which parts of your life you are compartmentalizing. Compartmentalization is the separation of one area of ​​thought from another. Knowing when you are using this will help in self-control and inferences about how often you use compartmentalization. One way to compartmentalize is to leave the stress created by the family at home while hanging out with a friend.
   • For example, it would be repulsive not to tell your family about your work. However, by using compartmentalization in this way, you control the overlap and deliberately minimize the impact of work on family life.
2. 2 Separate small and time-limited streams of thoughts. Avoid compartmentalization in large areas of thought that make you yourself.
   • For example, leading a double life, one with one's family and the other with a lover, while the basic position of life is honesty in the family, will have serious consequences for the value system, and both lives will be compartmentalized.
   • A simpler case is to be both a surgeon and a head physician. The roles are completely different, but with the help of compartmentalization, you will be able to properly cope with both roles, minimizing the impact of one on the other.
3. 3 Find a way to switch between compartmentalization departments. Create a separation support system to make your compartmentalization more efficient. Recognize how some thoughts merge with others, remind yourself that, at this very moment, it is your role and priority. It is unlikely that you will be able to switch as if with a snap of your fingers between compartmentalization departments, but you can think of an activity, like a walk or a short trip around the city, that will help clear your mind and switch from one to the other.
   • If you are switching from work to home, tell yourself that when you finish thinking about work at the end of your shift; you will be able to continue thinking about work the next working day.
   • Students do this frequently and with great success. The unpleasant course for the student stops as soon as he leaves the classroom, which allows him to easily enjoy the course he likes right after.
4. 4 You need to understand that these “compartments”, branches in the psyche, do not exist for a reason. Make sure that you are always in control of this separation, and it does not just become a reflex wired mechanism.Remember that the fact that you switch between these compartments does not mean that you are hiding from your feelings and impulses; it simply means that it is not productive to think about another area of ​​your life right now, and you can always come back to it later.
5. 5 Avoid multitasking. If you want to use compartmentalization as easily as possible, avoid multitasking, especially between compartments, no matter how small the action. You do not even suspect that calling home to solve some problem in the family during lunch break breaks the stream of consciousness. But doing this is stressful and will negatively impact productivity during work hours. Of course, if you urgently need to solve some family problem, you should not put it off for a long time, but if there is an opportunity, leave it for later in order to better concentrate on the issues that are important at the moment.
   • Avoid multitasking within the same office. Multitasking will make you less productive and prevent you from fully immersing yourself in the task.
6. 6 Give each area your full attention and switch. When you are in one of your compartments (compartments), you need to give it 110% of your energy. Turn off your phone and other distractions and completely immerse yourself in your task, be it a presentation on a robot or hanging out with your daughter. If a stranger is trying to penetrate your mind, just say, "I'll come back to this when it wakes up more productively."
   • Create a timeline for yourself. Tell yourself "I will spend exactly one hour on task A and move on to task B." This will motivate you to dive headlong into task A while there is still time.
7. 7 Learn to compartmentalize hard news. If you hear tough or eye-popping news, you will want to quit all your business and responsibilities. But if you decide to compartmentalize, say to yourself, "I will give this situation two hours of my time. I will write down, think it over, or express what I think about it and move on." This does not mean that I have solved this problem or silenced my pain, but that means I’ll think about the problem as much as necessary without getting depressed. I’ll come back to this problem again later, but I won’t let it ruin my day. Or my life. "
8. 8 Remember that you can always return to any department. Get rid of the thought that you have to solve every problem, crisis, or situation the second it happened, and if you don't do it now, be depressed all day. Of course, the problem on the robot is unpleasant, but you can't solve it until you meet with your boss, tomorrow on the robot, so take a deep breath, tell yourself that you will solve it as soon as the moment is right, and switch to other things. ...
9. 9 Ask yourself how I can fix the situation by thinking about it. You had a fight with a girl. Your son has just been charged with theft. Your boss just put you in charge of a project that was not successful. However, at the moment, you cannot really solve any of these problems. And what should you do? - sit for hours and think about it, imagining the worst possible scenarios, and dwelling on negative thoughts over and over again? Of course not. Instead, ask yourself, "How does my thought about it make the situation better?" Most likely not how. If thinking doesn't solve the problem, switch to what can be solved in the moment and find the magic solution to the problem later.
10. 10 Ask yourself, “How much more productive would I be if I weren't thinking about these things right now?’ Most likely, things would go on a robot much better if you did not think about a quarrel with your daughter; You could clean up your house much faster if you didn't ponder a conflict with a work colleague. Not thinking about things that cannot be changed at the moment will allow you to find much more time to solve those problems that can be solved.
11. 11 Balance your life. If you want to truly compartmentalize, you need to have balance and stability in life, when you feel that everything is under control: family, career, health, and other areas of life that are important to you. If you feel that your life is getting out of control and everything is falling out of hand on the robot, preventing you from sleeping for more than three hours a night, you need to solve these situations in order to feel calmer, more adequate, and in greater harmony in all areas of life.
    • Once all areas of your life are under control, you can truly begin to compartmentalize.

Part 2 of 2: Stay in control

1. 1 Avoid compartmentalizing too often. The feeling that life is being shattered into small pieces, or not being able to subdivide your choices, is a warning that you are losing control over how you divide aspects of your life. Over time, this can lead to serious psychological problems.
   • If you get married and your wife or husband has never met anyone from your circle of friends or work, compartmentalization is out of control.
2. 2 You should be satisfied with the intersection of some aspects of your life. Losing control over how you divide your life and thoughts can become a habit. If this happens and aspects of your life suddenly intersect, it can create big problems and troubles. You will feel very “vulnerable”, and if people from different areas of your life meet talking about you, they may learn that they are not talking about the same person.
3. 3 Know when to stop. If your whole life, and not just some of its areas, feels like a change of different feelings and "guises", stop compartmentalizing. * Losing control, as described above, leads either to more diligent compartmentalization or to a greater fear that the two areas of your life will intersect.
   • It hurts open and honest relationships and makes people suspicious of certain segments of your life.
4. 4 Always keep these divisions under control. Know that you are doing this simply to improve productivity and life satisfaction by using compartmentalization effectively. Even if you do not often initiate conversations about work while at home, asking family members about how your day went does not evoke feelings of fear or “feelings of hopelessness”.
5. 5 Say no to things that don't deserve separation. One way to control compartmentalization is not to overload yourself with various aspects of life. Don't get carried away by activities that require a lot of giving, like the presidency on a parent committee or volunteering to decorate your friend's entire house if you don't like it. Chances are, if you are trying to compartmentalize, you have so many things to do, so try to reduce the critical areas of your life as much as possible.
   • For example, if you are already participating in three projects at the same time, and you are offered the fourth, learn to say no.
   • Review your schedule. If you really want to say yes, to a new opportunity, see if there is something in your life that you can cross out.

Tips

• Stop compartmentalizing. If you catch yourself looking for logical reasons not to spend an hour discussing aspects of your life with a loved one.
• Effective compartmentalization is not possible for all people. If you feel like it’s not right, stop compartmentalizing.
• Accept compartmentalization not as a way to hide who you are as a person, but as a way to increase productivity both at school or at work and at home.
• Allowing different areas of life to merge for short periods of time will help stop maladaptive behavior and thought patterns and make life whole.
• Using the image of a filing cabinet in your head will help you achieve the above. Close the drawer at the end of the lesson you hate so you can move on.
• Be on the lookout at all times. If you feel that some area of ​​your life has become a secret, instead of helping something by eliminating distractions, begin to consistently remove the barriers between your compartmentalized life.
• If you allow an aspect of your life to present you with opportunities that you would never have considered before, it is a sign that compartmentalization has taken over. It does not organize your life, it destroys it, which is cause for concern.

Warnings

• The manifestation of things like "I don't think I know you at all" from others is a warning that you are not effectively compartmentalizing but falling into a split personality.
• If you are diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, borderline psychopathy, or dissociation, do not try to compartmentalize. This can lead to even more severe mental disorders.
• Feelings of depersonalization, or not knowing who you are as a person, is a strong warning sign of losing control over compartmentalization.