Self-help books and programs often attempt to break up different areas of life into compartments or areas of responsibility. You are responsible to your family, for example, but perhaps not responsible in quite the same way to yourself. Your responsibility toward your coworkers, boss, and clients or customers may not include quite the same points of integrity as your responsibility as a citizen of a country or a member of a society. Self, family, work, society, and culture all require different kinds of responsibility on your part. This is where the concept of domain comes into.

How compartments and domains are similar.

First, they are both somewhat arbitrary and artificial constructs. There is often no clearly defined idea where self ends and family begins, for example. The lines of demarcation may be blurred between your professional work life and your life as an American, German, Chinese, or other citizen. Your ethnic background may reflect the mutability of ancestral bloodlines when it comes to your self identity. Compartments and domains are very arbitrary in this way, and both are capable of enormous change over time.

Second, both compartments and domains are convenient ways of grasping larger concepts. It is easy to grasp 30-something demographics in 21st century America, and much less easy to understand the broader demographic of 20 to 60 year olds. Sometimes, reducing a larger category into a smaller one is a matter of convenience. It also allows for more specific treatment of the category group in question. Compartments and domains lend themselves to this kind of drill-down analysis with the aim of uncovering specific identifiable characteristics of various subcategories within the larger context.

Third, compartments and domains may be structured in various ways depending on a predetermined hierarchy of needs. Governments, religions, corporations, and other large collective entities very clearly exhibit hierarchical structures based on authority (responsibility), influence, or overall goals. Sometimes it is convenient or necessary to show relationships based on activity or function rather than on more formal structures involving rank, title, or authority. Both compartments and domains can be structured and restructured according to need in this manner.

The key differences between compartments and domains.

As the word itself implies, compartments have some kind of barrier between one compartment to the next. The barriers between compartments may be physical, structural, rule-based, or purely conceptual — but they are there and will definitely have an effect on the flow of information between them. Domains are more like spheres or areas of activity. Being activity-based, domains interoperate freely amongst themselves unless something impedes the free flow of information and movement. Compartments have walls while domains have spheres of influence.

Compartments imply a more rigid structure of organization than domains. It seems natural and appropriate to define compartments in certain more or less rigid ways; on the other hand, domains are quite mutable and can adapt themselves to various magnitudes of influence and ever-changing environments. A compartment (physical or conceptual) that is built too rigidly will eventually become meaningless and crumble of its own accord. A domain merely shifts its sphere of influence to accommodate the changing environment.

Compartments are essentially hardwired systems, much like a traditional network relying on wires connecting one piece of equipment to another. Domains are more like wireless networks that can easily drop or pick up signals as needed. The rigid pathways between compartments allows for effective communication only when conditions are exactly right. The more dynamic information exchange between domains guarantee that communications will always be available in one form or another between domains.

Compartmental structure is generally inherited from traditionally defined roles within society. Bureaucracies are almost exclusively compartmental in nature and thus, very slow to react to changing circumstances and mostly blind to flashes of insight and creativity needed to overcome challenges. Domains generally recognize not only challenges themselves earlier and more effectively, but also quickly promote members of the domain into positions of influence as needed to deal with these challenges.

How to use domains effectively in your life.

In order to shift from static compartmental thinking into more dynamic domain thinking, you must first recognize where you tend to compartmentalize the issues, relationships, and activities within your own life. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is my schedule too rigid to allow for a full spectrum of activities with people who are important to me?

• Do I neglect my health or happiness in favor of things that don’t really contribute to my well-being?

• Have I lost touch with others? With myself?

• Do I have beauty, harmony, balance, and love in my life right now?

• Do I spend too much time pretending to be productive? Do I waste time in irrelevant activities?

• Are certain negative emotions like anger, fear, or disappointment common experiences in my day-to-day situation?

• Do I unconsciously think in “us vs. them” terms when considering something or someone I disagree with?

Asking yourself these questions, gently but firmly, will get you in the habit of examining where you have built the walls of compartmentalization in your life. Simple awareness alone, is usually enough to open your heart and mind to more dynamic ways of relating to the realities of your life. Compartments are all about separation. Domains are all about spheres of influence.

Realize now that you have the power to change anything in your life that’s not working. Do not accept someone else’s compartment as your belief that that’s just how life is. Someone built that compartment in the first place and you accepted it as your own. You can tear it down at any time. Your life is not bounded by anything at all, but may seem like it is from the perspective of a mind used to pigeon-holing things into tidy compartments.

The big wide world of happiness and fulfilled action can be yours if you are willing to transform the various compartments of your life into dynamic and expansive domains. Why not get started immediately?

About the Author
Timothy Thompson is a professional freelance writer/editor whose work with Dream Manifesto helps illuminate life for online and offline audiences around the world. He currently makes his home in southern California and is working on several content writing and editing projects. Visit Thompson Inkworks for information.