Your break up will understandably affect your social life. Where you used to go out with your ex and meet up with friends together, now you will be forced to go out alone and your mutual friends will be trying to figure out whose side they are on. It's not a fun situation, but hopefully you still have some friends who are just yours. Go out with them and make a point of getting to know new people so you have a good reason to get out of the house and not mope around.



Being at home is probably the worst time of day. You have the time to sit and think about everything that has happened and to worry about seeing your ex and wondering what you could have done differently to avoid breaking up. It's very easy to get depressed and just stay in bed for extended periods of time. You might find that your eating habits change, too. You may end up binging on food, or just the opposite. Losing your appetite and not eating at all is almost as bad for your body as is overeating.

To combat this problem, try to get out. If you have a good friend, now is time to enlist their help in keeping you busy. Plan some day trips together or even take off for a weekend. The idea is to keep busy so you don't have to think about things for a bit.

Often, breaking up with your loved one will cause some problems at work, as well. If you end up very depressed, you'll find yourself laying in bed, calling in sick. This isn't a good idea . . . the last thing you need is to lose your job on top of everything else! Even if you let yourself wallow in self-pity at home, make sure that you do focus at work. Forcing yourself to get up in the morning and shower and get dressed to go to work is a good start. Showing up for work gives you a few points toward keeping your job and actually working while you're there is even better. Work is also good for you because it gives you a chance to focus on something apart from the break up, which is always good.

Having a space to actually feel bad is probably a good thing. It lets you have that outlet for your emotions, but you can still focus on making things work in other areas. If need be, take a few days off from work, but don't jeopardize your career, it just isn't worth it. And, while you may feel that nothing is worth the effort these days, you'll be back on your feet in a while and then you'll regret having abandoned jobs or ignoring your friends for so long.

It's unreasonable to expect to be able to get over a break up in minutes, so allow yourself a bit of time to feel down and unhappy about the whole thing . . . but not at the expense of your life. Your relationship may be over, but your life isn't, so focus on the areas that you can fix and make it a life well worth living.