Just like that poplar old school tune says, breaking up is hard to do. In the wake of a break up is a trail of broken dreams, shattered promises, malfunctioning hearts and dysfunctional personalities. Each break up is difficult and in the interim of the happy relationship, its pretty much difficult to pin down how not to have a bad break up and make the relationship work and stand the test of time. Despite this, dating a co worker may not be the best idea known to man.

Especially if youre in the same department or need to work closely together, dating and having a relationship with your co worker is not the smartest decision to make. Although, perhaps the relationship will work out and you actually end up together and have a wonderful life together, this isnt always the case and breaking up with a co worker can prove more challenging than the usual break up.

Imagine yourself, freshly broken up from your partner and still hurting. Its very difficult to go out and enjoy the usual daily activities because for one thing, you dont feel your best and inadvertently you dont feel like you look your best. You dont want to be in places that will remind you of your partner and you most definitely dont want to bump into your partner when not looking your best either. Its all a very complicated chain of events that you want to avoid following a break up and the natural thing to do after a break up is to just concentrate on work and live one day at time until one day eureka, youre whole and ready to rejoin the living again.

Unfortunately, you will not have this luxury if you break up with a co worker. You will not have a reprieve from seeing him as you will have to bear not only seeing him every single day but also you will have to work closely with him as work dictates. You cannot ask to be reassigned or risk letting your work go because that would be totally unprofessional and no broken heart is reason to stop the world and throw everything away.

Its also very difficult to get over someone you have to be in close constant distance with. Sometimes, time and space is all one needs and with breaking up with a co worker, thats not really possible.

Whats worse is that somewhere down the line, while you are going through the process of healing, you will be privy to your ex partners new love life and it will be enough to put you on a tailspin back to remission.

Then there are also the pitying looks and words from your other co workers. That isnt half as bad as the gossip that will ensure from your break up. Its a very sticky situation and there is just no end to the nightmarish possibilities that will ensue from breaking up with a co worker.

Unfortunately there isnt really anything you can do about it but just hang on and let things naturally die down because as with everything, this difficult time in your life will pass and youll look back and find everything wasnt as bad as you imagined in retrospect.

Things to do though to prevent difficulty in breaking up with a co worker, short of not dating them in the first place is to try and be discreet about your relationship so that your business isnt everyone elses property too. Also, prepare yourself for the possibility that things dont work out and you will eventually have to break up. This may lessen the impact if it actually does happen.

If you didnt have the luxury of the above advice and now find yourself broken and fresh from breaking up with a co worker, and you feel like you just cannot handle the strain, relax and be easy on yourself. If your productivity will suffer, it might be good to take some time off from work and never mind the gossip and what other people will think. Who knows perhaps this is the time to rethink your job and may even be the beginning of a jumpstart on your career.