Signs of a Workaholic

Are you an ambitious person?  Do you burn the candle at both ends?  These are the signs of a workaholic that you need to be aware of.

Top 5 Signs of a Workaholic?

Do you exhibit any of the following signs?  These are the top 5 signs of being a workaholic.

• Working late
• Starting work very early
• Are you tired all the time?
• Neglecting your family or friends, including important events
• Have you ever said that you will do whatever you have to in order to get to the top?

Are you a workaholic?

Do you see yourself in any of those statements?  Let’s dive deeper into each one…

Working late

Do you often find yourself working late?  If you have to work later than normal because of an upcoming project deadline, that is OK as long as it doesn’t happen all the time.  Instead, if you are doing this on a consistent basis, this is a red flag.  People that work late into the night because there is ‘just too much to do’ need to take heed because you are on the road to some very stressful life situations.  If you’re still online at 8, 9, 10, 11 PM – it’s time to reevaluate.

Starting work very early

On the flip side, what if you are starting work very early (or maybe never stopped from the night before).  This could also be a sign that you are working too hard.  Nothing is that urgent that you need to start work at 3 or 4 AM.  Trust me, you will burn yourself out.

Are you tired all the time?

This could go hand in hand with any of the above two signs, but not always.  Even if you aren’t working 16 hour days (or more), you might be tired because you can’t turn anything off in your head.  This causes poor sleep and insomnia.

Neglecting family / friends

Neglecting family and friends is a signs of a workaholic.  If you are missing important events, this is hurting your relationships – even if you don’t realize it.  Constantly making excuses or apologizing because you have a project / deadline doesn’t make your spouse or kids feel good.  They should be #1 in your life – they are the priority.

Ambition

It’s great to be ambitious about our goals but if you will stop at nothing to accomplish them, take a step back and make sure that you aren’t trampling on people.  I once had someone tell me that they would ‘run right over someone’ to get to their desired position within the company.  It was a strong statement.   Do you see this same behavior in yourself?

Re-evaluating

It’s time to re-evaluate your life.  What are your priorities?  You should always put your health first.  If you are tired and always burning the midnight oil, this isn’t healthy.  Even if you think that you can handle it, eventually it will wear you down.  Lack of sleep is never good for you.  Sure, you can do it for a short amount of time but the longer you go, it will wear on your health.  You’ll make poorer decisions and your health will suffer.

If you’re neglecting people in your life, know that this will affect them.  No matter what excuse you give them, they will eventually stop trusting you.  It is hurting them.  Do you really want this?  Is work more important to you?  Is work that important.  Also, being ambitious is great but not at the expense of hurting others.

You need to start asking yourself what your priorities are.  If you need help, get some support.