Valentine’s Day Is Here, But Are You Still in Love with Your Banking Job?

It’s February. Valentine’s Day gifts decorate the high streets and we’re encouraged to reveal our undying love to our friends, and our one-and-only. 

However, the apple of other people’s eyes is slightly more challenging, with many leaning towards purchasing heart-shaped chocolates for their co-workers rather than for the secretly admired ones. 

If you suspect you’re married to your job, you aren’t alone. A colossal number of Brits believe they are as well and it’s harming their relationships.

A 2019 survey of 2,000 working adults discovered that 45 per cent routinely work outside of their contracted hours for more than one hour per day – each day, as well as weekends.

Is Cupid’s arrow beginning to take on a more Biro-like appearance? It’s time to check the following symptoms this Valentine’s Day:

1. Your banking job’s a pastime 

For a moment, take yourself back to times when you had hobbies and when you loved life. Perhaps you enjoyed cooking. Maybe you played football. Or even the stamp collection was the envy of all your friends. Now, you may have put these pastimes on the back burner, as your hobbies revolve around invoicing, payroll, filing, or paperwork rather than family plans.

If you’re married to your job, you probably don’t have as much time for hobbies and your working hours quickly become your work, play, and everything else.

2. Sleep is when you brainstorm

If you’re married to your work, then sleep is simply overtime in disguise! Instead of these uninterrupted eight hours being used to escape from your relationship with the daily grind, you use sleep to type out early-hour emails, dream of pending meetings, and for late-night brainstorming sessions.

In other words, buttoning up your stripy pyjamas signifies the onset of your job joining you underneath the sheets. It screams that you’re a tad too attached to your work.

3. Wind-down time denotes email time

You close the lid of your laptop, throw off your work suit and decide to cosy up on the sofa with your partner. After all, you deserve this window of peace, and this couple of hours of escape earns you the time to catch up on things that count – emails. 

Within your inbox is a sea of work-related action – one email usually leads to a never-ending loop of ‘open, reply, send’ – then you discover your significant other is either fast asleep or that you’re single. 

When you’re at home, this is your opportunity to relax and rejuvenate with your loved ones – and by this, we’re not talking about your bookkeeper or accounting technician.

With our day jobs becoming even more taxing, it’s all too easy to neglect the more important parts of your life (things that don’t involve processing balance sheets, spreadsheets, and invoices).

4. You’ve swapped ‘small talk’ with ‘work talk’

We all know those polite chats about uncontroversial and unimportant matters are the bane of work conversation. However, speaking about your latest office feats in response to, “we couldn’t ask for nicer weather, could we?” still isn’t acceptable. 

Sure, your job is your passion (which is commendable). But if you want to become less predictable and invited to more social gatherings that go beyond meetings with business tycoons and LinkedIn congregations, then do the small talk.

While you may once have been the party animal, your inability to contribute to non-work-related chitchat has left you more the Bono of the ball than the Belle.

Of course, we want you to be happy at work and love your role. But we don’t want you to get married to it so that you forget your loved ones. So, perhaps on 14th February, divert your emails, switch off your smartphone, and choose to spend some quality time with those who love you – and deserve your time the most. 

Contact us

At Market Talent, matching the right candidates to the right jobs and forming lasting, blossoming relationships with them is what we do. If you’re seeking a new position in finance, then reach out to one of our matchmakers – we mean specialists – by calling +44(0)20 7971 7700 or emailing info@markettalent.co.uk now. Happy Valentine’s Day!