It is easy to get confused between working hard and working too much, so here are some of the major red flags.
Ask anyone who has worked in a job long-term and they will likely say that they have had an experience where they had to determine the difference between peak performance and overdoing it. It isn’t always easy to identify bad habits, especially if those habits end up giving positive results, as aspects of being a workaholic so often do.
If you are wondering whether you may be burning the candle at both ends rather than creating a healthy and sustainable work life, then read on, as we have compiled a list of some of the warning signs that you in fact are a workaholic.
Trouble saying no
In every job it is important to be a team player, helping out your co-workers and creating an atmosphere that encourages approachability. However, if you find that you feel the need to agree to any work that is thrown your way, to the detriment of your own schedule or goals, then you are likely a workaholic, rather than a peak performer.
Before taking on new work, ensure that you have a handle on what is already under your control, so that you can build an effective strategy and gradually incorporate the additional work into your day. Being selective about the added work you offer to complete is not a sign that you are not contributing, rather it is setting a reasonable boundary that ultimately protects the quality of everyone’s work and time.
Putting a brake on breaks
Possibly the biggest sign that you are a workaholic, rather than a peak performer, is if you have no respect for your own free time. The failure to take regular breaks, enjoy an extended time off, or drop workplace communications outside of the job is a great indicator of this.
If you want to move into that peak performer status then organisation is key. That is to say, by taking control of your schedule, managing your workload and preparing in advance for trips or time away, you should be able to enjoy a break without feeling as though you are dropping the ball work-wise. For that reason, organisational and similar soft skills are absolutely crucial to a robust and diverse skillset.
Busy with busy work
Workaholics may feel that in order to be good at their job they have to be busy at every moment. This is 100pc untrue. You can be busy and making great use of your time, not busy at all and still making good use of your time or busy while making no progress at all. That is the textbook example of busywork, which really only serves to exhaust you and whittle away valuable time.
If you find that you are jumping on work as it comes in, for example constantly responding to external communications immediately, working half of a task and then moving on to what is now a new priority without finishing the first one, or failing to accurately prioritise work at all, then it may be a sign that you are falling victim to busywork.
Rather than trying to be busy at all times to showcase your value to an organisation, instead focus on what your target is, how it aligns with overall company goals and the most efficient way to get there. Whatever free time comes as a result of that planning can be filled with other tasks, projects, training or even just opportunities to slow down and get your bearings.
Overly critical
All of us, at some point, are going to be overly critical of our work. Imposter syndrome affects everyone occasionally and in fact, it can be healthy to cast a more critical eye over your work and yourself from time to time, just to ensure that you are meeting your own expectations.
However, if your version of imposter syndrome is a frequent visitor and it is the rule – not the exception – to be harder on yourself than you would be with others in a similar position, then it is likely that you are a workaholic with unreasonable standards for yourself.
Learning how to manage expectations, your own and those of others, is a valuable life skill, not just in your place of employment but in your personal life also. You would never expect others to be at 110pc all of the time, nor do they have that same expectation of you.
Rather than stressing yourself out or piling even more work on top of what you already have, why not take a step back and assess the situation with a clear, unbiased eye. I almost guarantee you that you will view the whole situation differently.
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