Workaholism: Do You Work to Live or Live to Work?

Do you work to live, or do you live to work? If your job or work is the only thing you think about, or if it is the only thing that matters to you, your life has lost its sense of balance. Having a sense of balance in one's life is crucial to healthy functioning. Working is a great thing. This country has been built on healthy, hard work. But too much work is not healthy and it can have serious consequences on a person's life. Working too hard can cause illnesses related to stress, disrupt families and even death.

Workaholism is when work becomes an obsession and the main, or only, driving force in a person's life. No one praises or rewards a person for alcoholism, yet workaholism is rewarded and encouraged by employers all of the time. Like alcoholism, workaholism can take the same toll on a person, their family and society. Like other addictions, workaholism is an attempt for a person to escape or hide from inadequate feelings about oneself. I was a workaholic for many years and it one of the reasons my health suffered so greatly because I continued to push myself and I didn't listen to the warning signs. I worked all of the time to escape the problems in my first marriage. When I think back it really doesn't make any sense. I needed to be home in order to work on my marriage, but I continued to work nonstop so I didn't have to face the problems at home. Workaholism is emotionally, physically and spiritually damaging. It also involves denial where workaholics think that it's not a big deal or they could stop if they wanted to.

There are several warning signs of workaholism:

1. Difficulty setting priorities or limits.
2. Difficulty saying no.
3. Always needing to be in control and becoming frustrated if not in control.
4. Feelings of guilt, loneliness, inadequacy and never really feeling successful.
5. Difficulty dealing with others; not communicative or cooperative.
6. Not good at handling criticism.
7. Obsessively concerned with details.
8. Territorial and/or withholding important information from others.
9. Threatened by relationships with others which leads to social isolation.

Although you may think workaholics make the best workers, the reality is they are not. Workaholics are often trying to get all of their needs met while working; therefore, they tend to thrive on crisis. Workaholics also are many times unwilling to delegate so their time is not managed well. They can be demanding, moody, inflexible and crisis starters.

If you feel that you may be a workaholic or are working too hard, try the following suggestions:

1. Find a steady pace at work.
2. Diversify each day.
3. Use your time and don't let time use you.
4. Try to create challenges in your work that don't involve crisis.
5. Schedule your time away from work.
6. Do not take work home with you.
7. Start delegating tasks and try to do so without interfering.
8. Find and develop a support system outside of work.
9. Try to figure out what you're avoiding by overworking.
10. Read books that aren't work related. Have conversations with others that aren't work related.
11. Seek professional help.