Hi there

Really sorry to hear about your dad. Understandably you must be feeling devastated. 

My mum was recently diagnosed with leukemia (in August) and recently she has been admitted to the ICU and it's not known at the moment whether she will make a full recovery or not. 

And like you, I have a demanding job and sometimes feel like bursting into tears in the middle of Zoom meetings! 

What I have learnt in this process, as well as having a close friend lose her mum recently too, is that your job, while important, isn't your priority! You and your dad are. It's great that your work is aware of the situation and (hopefully) they would completely understand if you needed some time out - be it a day, or even half an hour. At 23 you feel like you owe your boss/workplace the world and everything will fail if you don't put your job first, but as you get older (28 like me!) you realise basically everything else is much more important!

If one day you feel like throwing yourself into your work to cope and another day you need sometime to just feel your emotions, go for a walk, speak to a friend then just do it. If you know you have regular meetings that are quite intense, then is there anything you could do beforehand or plan after that would put your mind at ease? Another thing that I found helped at the beginning was to turn my camera off on meetings so if I needed to compose myself I could quietly!

Hi, thanks so much for replying so quickly, that's made me feel better. Of course I know family is more important than a job, but it can be difficult to remember in the middle of a busy work day sometimes! I think more walks / breaks during the day to breathe is a good idea. 

I'm so so sorry to hear about your mum. Wishing you all the best 

Hi, thanks so much for replying so quickly, that's made me feel better. Of course I know family is more important than a job, but it can be difficult to remember in the middle of a busy work day sometimes! I think more walks / breaks during the day to breathe is a good idea. 

I'm so so sorry to hear about your mum. Wishing you all the best 

Ho there ...

Adding to the lovely reply you've had ... I'd just have a word with a boss you get on with, and be honest with them .. tell them there's times you struggle with emotions ... and how occasionally you have to pull back ... work will help you not think too much, but even then something random can be said and the tears flow ... that's normal ... 

After I lost my mum and felt overwhelmed,  I mentally said over and over .. when I went to work , I'd leave those feelings at the front door, and pick it back up on the way out ... that way I knew home was a safe place to let those feelings out ... it worked most of the time ... but you still need someone there on side knowing how your feeling and coping there ... sending you a vertual hug.... Chrissie x