12 Steps for the Workaholic (part1)

Before I begin sharing steps to help workaholics let’s define what a workaholic is.

If you stay late finishing up a task because you want to, not because you have to and in doing so you miss your child’s birthday party; You might be a workaholic

If you go on vacation and can’t enjoy the sunset without checking your blackberry. You might be a workaholic.

If you check your email during your child’s ball game, in the middle of the night or during meals. You might be a workaholic.

If you take your cell phone, PDA and Laptop on vacation; You might be a workaholic.

If you call the office even though you left your number for emergencies just to see if everything is OK on your days off; You might be a workaholic.

If you have replaced all of your hobbies with work; You might be a workaholic.

If unless you talk about work there is silence at the dinner table; You might be a workaholic.

If you take notes while watching ‘The Office” or “The Apprentice”; You might be a workaholic.

If you think people that don’t put in 60 hours a week are slack; You might be a workaholic.

If you never take any me time or eat at your desk so you can get more work done; You might be a workaholic.

If your work habits begin to harm your health and relationships and you don’t do anything about it; You ARE a workaholic.

Here are 6 of 12 steps that will help you break free.

• Step 1. Make a written list of what is most important to you in order of importance. Keeping this list visible will help you to stay focused on what is really important
• Step 2. Set a definite time when all work stops. If you get home at 5:00PM, that’s when all work ends. No computer, no email and no work related phone calls. YES do this even if everyone else is gone for the evening. It will help you break the work habit and force you to get in the habit of finding something else to do with your time.
• Step 3. Take a lunch every day and leave work or work related tasks alone. You need time to allow your mind to rest and recharge. We can fall into unhealthy habits of eating poorly or working through lunch without even realizing it. Go for a walk, take a nap, play a game or just sit and dream a while.
• Step 4: Get a hobby. Find something to do outside of work that brings you enjoyment. Fish, go bowling, become a scrapper, metal detecting, make models, do puzzles, go bungee jumping, hiking, rock climbing, become a blogger, whatever. There are thousands of things you can do that will expand your experiences and add excitement and joy to your life.
• Step 5: Take at least one day a week to do NOTHING work related at all. No work related phone calls, computer, emails, letters, nothing. Spend this time with the higher priority items on your list.
• Step 6: Find someone to hold you accountable because you will go through withdrawals. It will be very difficult not to check the email, to leave the laptop at home or to allow the calls to go to voice mail. I know from experience how difficult it is to break some work habits. You will start to justify your actions in the beginning by saying things like; “But it is important”, “What is the big deal” and my personal favorite; “But I enjoy work, it is not work to me and I would rather do it than watch TV”.

Folks it is a big deal and yes, hard, committed workers usually do enjoy their work. As a matter of fact they don’t even consider it work. But even things we enjoy can harm other areas of our life if they are not monitored closely. We develop habits and habits create our life. We should work to live not live to work. Workaholics begin to distance themselves from others, friendships dissolve, and relationships are destroyed as work slowly takes over one’s life.  Some of these things may seem ridiculous to you, do them anyway. Once you get back to enjoying all the other things life has to offer outside of your work you will be thankful you did and….. If you have a family, they will be thankful you did too.

There are 6 more steps I will list in my next post so stayed tuned.

Until then…….

Make it a Great Day!

Bob

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