Relaxation Tips for Workaholics

Are you a workaholic? Even if you don't want to, you may find yourself unable to leave work behind, bringing home reports and surveys to look over before bed, staying late at the office . . . it can become a complete addiction. One that takes you away from your family and eliminates a social life, not to mention ramping up your stress levels. However, for many workaholics, taking a vacation is actually more stressful, because they are worrying about work the whole time.

So, how do you relax if you just can't leave work behind? There are a few methods that many people have found useful.

Try making a list. There are a million things you need to do, all of them pouring through your mind, right at bedtime. Instead of staying up to work, try writing down everything that you need to do, promise yourself that you will start on it in the morning and go to bed.

Take short breaks. Don't try to take a whole day off at once, try leaving work an hour earlier on Fridays and take that time to do something you enjoy. It is far easier to relax for an hour than it is if you have a whole day without work ahead of you.

Distract yourself. Go to the beach with your kids, hit a theme park, join a volleyball team, anything that will keep you busy and get your mind off of the things you need to do. A weekly group that meets up is a good motivator to get you out of the office.

Take a very long vacation. If you are one of the die-hard workaholics that simply cannot relax on a beach for two days, then don't even try. Plan a two week vacation or a whole month. You'll spend those first days stressing and fretting over work, but pretty soon you will start to relax and get into vacation mode. The problem is that most of the time people don't have enough time to stay in vacation mode before they head home again!

Turn off your phone. Let people know that you will be unavailable during your relaxation time, however long that is and turn off your pager, cell, Blackberry, etc. No cheating with email! This separates you from the work world and lets you focus on more important things, like watching the Simpsons.

Relaxing will never be easy for a true workaholic, but by following the tips above, you just might make it to that stress-free zone where you can calm down and let work worries slip away.