While a dedication to hard work and success is definitely commendable, it’s also important to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Otherwise, you risk professional burnout. You can do irreparable damage to your relationships and long-term health as well. The following are some early signs that you could be a workaholic.
Unhealthy Perfectionism
Taking pride in what you do is a good thing. Defining your sense of personal worth solely by what you accomplish professionally is not. Even the most successful business moguls occasionally make mistakes or underperform. This doesn’t make them any less valuable as people or professionals.
Lengthy Work Days
If you’re the first one to arrive at the start of a workday, the last guy to leave at night, and the one working every weekend to boot, you could well be a workaholic. People without a healthy work-life balance fail to understand the importance of downtime and breaks, burning the candle at both ends until they drop under the pressure.
Constant Focus on Work
Workaholics don’t just spend a lot more time than is healthy logging extra hours at the office. Even when they’re not at work, they can’t stop thinking about everything they have on their plate professionally. Work consumes their every thought, even when they’re on vacation or spending time with their families. Many workaholics even dream about work when they go to bed at night.
Distant or Non-Existent Relationships
Workaholics rarely to never have healthy personal relationships outside of work. Does your spouse often complain that you’re never around? Do your kids plead with you to spend more time with them? If so, it’s definitely time to reevaluate some things. Not only does your family need you to say “yes” more often to quality time with them, but it’s something you need as well.
Never Feeling Healthy
If you never seem to feel well and know you might also be overdoing it at work, it’s definitely time to adopt a better work-life balance. Not only is stress bad for you in and of itself, but workaholics are prone to other bad habits that exacerbate the issue even further (e.g. sleeping too little, skipping meals, drinking heavily, or never exercising). While meaningful work is definitely part of a full life well-lived, it’s important to realize good health and meaningful relationships are part of the picture as well. You’ll love the difference establishing a better balance makes for your overall quality of life.
