10 Signs You May Be a Workaholic (and how you can stop!)

In our society, being a workaholic seems to almost be encouraged. So many people log hours and hours at the office, neglecting their personal lives for the betterment of their careers and company. Getting out of the office once and a while to focus on your personal life could do wonders for your mental and physical health. If any of these signs sound like you, then you may be in need of a work intervention!

1.    You are the first to come in, the last to leave, and you never take a lunch break.

If you are always turning on the office lights in the morning, and shutting them off at night, chances are you are working a bit too much – certainly more than anyone else at your office! If you are a morning person, then come into the office early, but try to leave on time and vice versa if you work better in the evening. As for lunch, take your coworkers up on their office to join them in the cafeteria a few times a week.

2.    You are glued to your cell phone 24/7.

Even when you aren’t at work, you can’t stop checking your email. It’s the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night. Instate a strict no phone rule for yourself starting at 7pm every day. Turn it off or leave it in the car – whatever you need to do to pry it out of your hands.

3.    You don’t have any hobbies outside of work.

You should have interests outside of work – maybe you like to cook, hike, sew, or volunteer at an animal shelter. Whatever your interests are, you should make a conscious effort to spend time each week doing those hobbies. After all, no one wants to hear you talk about work all the time, so start building your conversation arsenal by spending time doing your favorite activities.

4.    You always put work before your personal life.

How many birthdays, dance recitals, or soccer games have you missed because you were working? If the answer is higher than you care to admit, then it may be time to reevaluate your work schedule. When you look back at your life, your happiest memories will be those spent with friends and family, not those spent glued to an Excel document.

5.    You strive for absolute perfection.

You are constantly setting unrealistic goals for yourself both at work and at home, then beating yourself up over it when you can’t reach the goal as quickly as you would have liked. Instead of doing this, try setting action sets for yourself so you have lots of small victories that add up to one major goal completion. This will make you feel much more accomplished at the end of a work day so you don’t feel the need to work overtime.

6.    You have 20 vacation days left at the end of the year.

It’s OK to take a vacation once and a while – after all, that is why vacation days were invented! At least once a year, turn on your out-of-office reply, turn off your cell phone, and give your mind and body time to rest and rejuvenate. The only rule for vacation is no work talk allowed!

7.    You get sick often.

If you are putting in an outrageous number of hours at the office without a vacation, you may find that you are getting sick often. This could be because of the stress that you are putting on yourself. Take time off from work and de-stress by spending time with friends and family.

8.    You say “yes” more than you say “no.”

If you are the one that your manager always comes to for help, or you have more work to do than hours in the week, then it may be time for you to stop saying “yes” so often and exercise your right to say “no.” Chances are you will not lose your job if you say that you are too busy to take on new projects. Your quality of work may even improve now that you aren’t spread too thin.

9.    You micromanage in the office.

Micromanaging in the office is often the sign of a workaholic. It may be hard for you to delegate projects because you feel that the work is now out of your control. It’s important to trust your coworkers to complete assignments with the same quality that you would.

10. You rarely make time for friends.

If you barely know what is going on in your friends’ lives anymore, then it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate. Having a work/life balance is essential to our well-being. We can’t be completely happy if our job is all-encompassing and we don’t have time to do the things we love with the people we love. Life is a balancing act and the same effort should be put into your personal life that you put into your office life.