Are you a workaholic? If you say yes, I admire you for being such because not all workers do their job as seriously as a workaholic. Many workers spend the eight-hour work ordinarily that means working to finish their work until it is time for them to go home. However, others really work harder and spend the work hours to finish everything on their tasks for the day and much more. These are the workaholics who are usually the last ones to go home compared to their co-workers.
There are people who do not know that they are workaholics and there are symptoms that you can check to know if you are a workaholic or not. Try to observe their symptoms if you have most of these:
- Lack of sleep - usually you report for office and go home later than everybody
- Take paperwork at home which is not really required
- Time is almost only devoted to working
- Family relationships are compromised because of the lack of time for them
- Always thinking about work without giving time for personal goals and activities
So, if you have such symptoms, you may be a workaholic which is at times good because employers appreciate people who are dedicated to their job and spend more time with it over family or personal matters. However, it might have some adverse effects on you in the long run.
It is found through studies that being a workaholic produces stress for the workers at some point in time. When you work beyond the regular hours consistently which is not really required, then you have to think about slowing down a bit because you might get sick physically, and also it might affect your mental health.
It is reported that “43 percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects due to stress.” (retrieved from the online book “Managing Stress” by Seaward. B.L.) and it is related to other diseases such as “ heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis and suicide.” which is some health experts now speculate that perhaps as much as 70 to 85 percent of all diseases and illnesses.”
Some studies show that workaholic people are stressed out most of the time and this situation might aggravate and may cause other diseases. When we think about stressors, we think about those around you that make you stressed out such as the workload, your co-workers, the physical layout in the office, and others that cause you to be angry or to freak out. However, sometimes we ourselves cause stress and we do not learn to let up.
If we do not control being a workaholic, stress might overtake you and harm you in the long run physically and mentally.
So you need to let up working so hard that your attitude is stressing you out that might, as I have previously mentioned, adversely affect you.
When I was still working, I was always stressed with the workload I had, which was inevitable that there were times I had to stay in the office for overtime work in order to finish priority tasks. This case was usual especially when clients claim for life insurance maturity or file for sickness, and other insurance-related claims. I also processed loan applications which were really voluminous. With that situation, I was really stressed out to finish my tasks, otherwise, it is almost impossible to go home earlier.
I was also nervous after working overtime and going home in the middle of the night. I had to take a taxi and waiting for it also stressed me out. This was my usual routine when piles of work awaited me every day. Although there are regular days that do not receive and process such an enormous volume of work to be done in a day.
So what I did was to spend my time with my family during weekends to reduce stress and to make up for the loss of bonding time with my family on weekdays because of going home late due to workload. I saw to it that I did not go out on weekends and just spent time with my kid and my husband. I did some cooking of our favorite dishes and ahd snacks together in front of the TV.
Family time was always fun and I did not have any stress, only enjoyment, and laughter. I Admit that I was in a way workaholic when I was still single because I don’t have family responsibility and I want to work more and more that I brought some of my workloads at home and worked on them on weekends. I was really work-oriented that time and just so deeply in love with my work. I did not know then that it was taking a toll on my health.
As a workaholic, I spent sleepless nights and I did not have much appetite for food.
I was only thinking of finishing my work and even processing my workload in advance. My officemates observed that I was losing weight and they were worried about me. They advised me to go to the company doctor for medical help.
The doctor prescribed some medications to make me less active and to control my workaholic tendency as it was already affecting my health and the stress I was experiencing was also contributing to my health issues. He also advised me to take some exercises to reduce my workaholic tendencies. I went to the gym to exercise and work out. That greatly helped me to be a normal and healthy worker.
Doing exercise is a good health regimen.
If you are also stressed in the workplace, you might want to try exercising at home with FlexiSpot fitness machines that can do wonders for your physical and mental health. It is better to do exercise at home as we still have the pandemic around us. One of the best exercise equipment is the Vibration Plate Exercise Machine VB1. It is a great workout buddy with awesome features. It is compact and handy, speeds up your metabolism, and burns excess fat. With 1 to 99 speed settings, you may level up the intensity of your exercise according to your whim. It is the best buddy you can have.