Career Advice Career Doctor

Keeping worklife separate

 

I’ve recently joined a close-knit team and they are a nice bunch of ABCs & BBCs. We are all quite young (mid to late 20s) and need to work late into the evenings on many projects etc. They have been very welcoming and include me in all their after work gatherings. Trouble is, there are just too many of them and I can’t keep up. It’s tiring to be working all day long, then spending most of my evenings painting the town red and nursing a hangover to work the next day. Not to mention the dent it’s putting into my wallet. I like to keep a fine line between work and my personal social circle. How do I maintain some work-life balance without offending my teammates and risk them ostracizing me. Solutions appreciated.