I was recently in this dilemma where my grandfather had a stroke & I wanted to be by his side throughout his hospitalization.While my coworkers & boss were extremely supportive of me taking a few days off, I couldn't shake the urge to still "check-in" and work whenever I wasn't by my grandfather's side.I felt the more I was disconnected from work, the harder it was going to be for me when I came back, so I tried to "keep myself afloat" by replying to IMs, emails, and do whatever work I could asynchronously.Everyone I know (including folks I work with) always say we should strive for a work/life balance, but I feel like that completely compartmentalizing the two is impossible. Especially if I want to continue to progress my career & not do sub-par work.Maybe I'm just overthinking it, but would love your thoughts on how best to handle this.