Is Your Work Getting in the Way of Your Life?

Despite improving living standards and wages, there is a growing phenomenon of people becoming addicted to working. The workaholic becomes obsessed with work leaving little time and energy for anything else in life. To rely on work for all aspects of life is to live an unbalanced life.

If you feel work is dominating your life, these are a few suggestions for creating a better balance. However, the first thing we often need to do is to acknowledge the prominence that work has gained in our life; if we are not careful, we can be in denial about how much work has come to dominate our lives.

Are you A Workaholic?

Take a moment to consider the following questions:

• Is your first thought on waking about work?
• Is your last thought before sleeping about work?
• Does work take priority over everything else?
• Is your social life based around going out with your office colleagues to talk about work?
• Do you take work home with you at the weekend?
• Would you struggle to enjoy a 3 week holiday away from work?
• Is your greatest aim in life to get a promotion and the respect of your work colleagues?

If you find yourself answering yes to many of these questions, you would probably meet most criteria of being a workaholic and you should consider creating a better balance between life and work. These are a few steps to breaking your attachment to work.

Know the Limits of Work

With many jobs it is always possible to find more to do. However, it is vital that you are able to stop working at the end of the work day. If you get paid from 9-6pm why should you be spending another 2 hours in the evening thinking about work problems?

At the end of the day make a firm decision to stop even thinking about work; don’t take work home, and avoid checking work email in the evening. Even if there is a problem with work, feel that worrying about it will not help in any way. Unless you make a conscious decision to switch off from work, it is possible for the office to dominate your life even at weekends and in the evening.

Working More Decreases Efficiency

A workaholic is someone who spends excessive amounts of time and energy on work. However, spending a lot of time doesn’t equate to higher productivity and efficiency. Rather than just spending more time, think of the most effective ways to work; try and increase your productivity and efficiency rather than just the number of hours. If you are really focused you can finish the essential tasks in a short time, then the optional extras can be left for another day. Prioritize what is important and do this well. Also, be aware there are many tasks that are completely non essential; don’t create work for the sake of it.

Write Down a List of 7 Things You Enjoy Doing

To break your attachment to work decide on other hobbies / activities that you would like to do. Write down a list of things that you would like to do now or in the future. After you have made a list, resolve to do them in the evening and at weekends. Feel that these activities are just as important, if not more important, than work. By having something else to aim for and get involved in, it will force you to make time away from work. If you can’t think of 7 things you enjoy doing apart from work, this is a serious problem and you should seek to create some genuine interests.

There is More to Life Than High Income

Another motivation for working excessive hours is the desire to secure a higher income. There is nothing wrong with wanting to succeed in your career or grow your own business, but it shouldn’t be the only goal in life. If you allow your career and financial security to dominate your thoughts and life, you will be ultimately poorer for it. If you have money but no time to spend it, you have the wrong balance. Put a value on leisure time, don’t just measure the success of your life through your bank balance and prospects of promotion.

Work on Improving Other Aspects of Your Life

Sometimes people become absorbed in their work because they feel a sense of inadequacy and failure about other areas of their life. If this applies to you, take time to work on these aspects of your life. Don’t hope that by ignoring your family and relationships they will improve. Your social life and personal relationships will never be improved through spending every waking hour at work. It will also be helpful to make time for spending time with your family and meeting friends. When you do spend time with your family, avoid the temptation to start talking about your work; it is really very boring.

Consider Alternatives to Your Current Job

Nothing in life is secure. Sometimes we can devote ourselves to a job only to later be made redundant. Just because you make sacrifices for your company doesn’t mean that they will make sacrifices for you. It is always good to have contingency plans; what would you do if your current job ended? By thinking of these issues, you come to realize that your work is not the sole purpose of your life.

Don’t Feel Indispensable

Sometimes we become a workaholic because we feel our presence and work is indispensable and that there is no one else who could do it. If this is the case try to delegate more work; give others more responsibility. Don’t expect perfection from others; the company won’t collapse just because they don’t do it exactly like you. Generally, it is an unhealthy attitude to feel we are indispensable; it probably isn’t true and becomes a justification for working too hard.