Working with Your Spouse: Is it Suitable?
2017-11-17

Over the years, it has become quite common for couples to work together, either as colleagues or as joint business owners. While working with your spouse can be bliss at times, it can also become a challenge — especially when trying to maintain the perfect balance between home life and work life.

While the idea of working with your spouse is not a new concept, sometimes the line between professionalism and marriage can get too blurred when you let compromise take place in areas where it shouldn’t. With that said, there have been many success stories of couples working together well.

So, how do you determine whether working with your spouse is suitable for you both? Here is our list of the benefits and drawbacks of working together.

Benefits

Opportunity to time together and understand each other

While getting married means you’ll be living under the same roof with your spouse, it’s not necessarily guaranteed — especially when one or both partners are working high-demanding jobs. By working together, not only do you both get the opportunity to work with each other, but also spend to time with one another. Working in the same place also allows more room for being understanding of each other’s schedules as both parties have — in most cases — the same job expectations.

Planning days off together

This is especially great for couples who have conflicting work schedules that leave them unable to see each other for long periods of time. Working together will not only increase face time with each other, but also enable each to be there more often even if it’s just getting coffee in the morning or commuting home together.

Greater dedication towards work

Working in the same environment lets couples focus on a similar goal and even share similar interests. Not only will working together mean that they are putting in the same amount of effort into the business, they are also contributing to the growth of their careers as well as their relationship on a personal level.

Drawbacks

Little change in daily schedules

Over time, the same schedule becomes routine, and we all know that a routine can get quite boring after some time. While routine is good for the structure of a business, having it all the time in a relationship can damper the romance. If couples allow monotonous routine to overtake their lives even at home, they could potentially go into autopilot mode, leaving little room for a meaningful relationship.

Lack of personal space

Working together also means being around each other — all the time. While spending time with your loved one can be satisfactory, spending too much time could lead to lack of personal space; ultimately straining the relationship for the worse. Sometimes quantity and quality don’t go hand in hand.

Power struggle and jealousy

In a workplace setting, it’s only natural that maybe one spouse is excelling more than the other. While some couples are fine watching their significant other climb to the top faster, others won’t be able to sit back contently. For example, if one spouse is promoted while the other is not, this could potentially have a negative effect on the relationship — especially if both are competing against one another. This in turn could lead to a power struggle that could potentially be disastrous for a relationship.

Whichever route you choose with your partner, always remember that your work should remain separate from your home life, and that your marriage should be prioritised no matter how pressing a deadline is. In the end, you both married each other, not the jobs that you both work.