One of the most common advice people get is that hard work leads to success. Basically, the more hours you put in, the more successful you become. If you lead a workaholic lifestyle because you want to be a success, there is no guarantee it would pan out the way you hoped.
Here is another advice you must have heard several times: all work no play makes Jack a dull boy. For an adult, if you lead a workaholic lifestyle, you would have more to contend with than just been dull.
The consequences to your health can be very devastating. Besides, there is no guarantee that all that manic hard work and dedication would make you a success. As a matter of fact, these days, there is more advocacy for people to work ‘smart‘ as opposed to ‘hard’ to get the best from life.
Why is it important to know that one is a workaholic? It is the same thing as why it is important to know if certain symptoms are just the signs of a much bigger health problem. Knowing these signs would help you take care of yourself properly.
Read on to find out the signs that show you lead a workaholic lifestyle and need to change asap before you do irreparable damage to yourself.
Signs you lead a workaholic lifestyle
1. You are an early bird
If you lead a workaholic lifestyle, you would be known as the first person to arrive at work. As sure as the sun sets in the West, you are always at your desk several hours before any of your colleagues.
For college students, the workaholic lifestyle is reflected in being the first to arrive at lectures or study meetings.
This isn’t such a bad thing though. It is known that starting early can improve productivity. But it becomes a problem when this is done at the expense of a good rest/sleep.
2. You are the last to leave
Workaholics tend to be the last to leave work. Some psychologists would even term it an obsessive behavior.
In combination with the fact that you are the first to arrive, you would have less time to meet your other obligations. Your life is completely dominated by the work you do.
3. Your social life is almost non-existent
When people talk about what they do for fun, a workaholic becomes mute. In the same vein, a workaholic would never understand why people care about things outside of work.
Because you are a workaholic, you become like an introvert without the benefits because you are not actually one. This absence of balance between work and social life would leave you with almost no meaningful relationships.
Only people you come into contact with professionally would have time for you. Outside of that, loneliness is a constant companion.
4. You are perennially stressed out
Generally, stress is never a good thing. However, we can never totally escape a little stress from time to time.
For a workaholic though, being stressed out is a constant factor all day long. You’d find yourself worrying constantly about little things because you lead a workaholic lifestyle.
You are a master a creating storms in teacups or thinking that ripples are destructive storms and something needs to be done immediately to avert a disaster.
The worst is even being stressed on weekends for the simple reason that you are not working.
5. You are the definition of impatience
These days, being a valuable team player is an important trait to have in any organization. And one habit to develop to be a team player is patience.
However, if you are a workaholic, you’d discover that patience is not one of your virtues. You easily get irritated with colleagues for not coming to work early enough or leaving too soon.
The bosses might love that attitude, but your peers wouldn’t want to associate with you that much.
This attitude can even extend to your friends and family. You would see yourself pushing them to work harder and longer. And if they don’t, your frustration would be all too evident.
6. You are a boring companion
As a workaholic, you are everybody’s worst nightmare as far as hanging out socially is concerned. The reason is simple: you are very boring because all you want to talk about is your job.
To you, anything discussion or gist must reflect back on your work. You don’t bother to keep up to date with what is trending except it is related to your job.
Nobody wants to go on a date or hang out with somebody like that. So if you never get a repeat date from that hot girl, it could be because you bored her with that non-stop chatter about work.
7. You hate breaks
Hating breaks is one of the clearest sign that you lead a workaholic lifestyle. While others are looking forward to taking a timeout to recharge their batteries, you would be deep in work wondering how others find time to take a break.
For you, lunch break, that is if you remember to feel hungry, is ordering your favourite takeaway to be brought to your desk.
So, did you see yourself described above? How has your attitude to work affected you and what do you think you ought to do to change it?
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Cheers.
