Are you a die hard workaholic? There are a lot of signs and, in truth, most of those signals are very obvious to those around you. Yet, you may have no idea your entire life is centered around your work.
Is it bad to be a workaholic?
This is a hot topic for debate, with business personalities like Gary Vaynerchuk, Grant Cardone, Andy Frisella and many others coining a phrase first made popular by movie star and former California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. To paraphrase, all these men agree that any driven personality can thrive off 6 hours of sleep every night, leaving a full 18 hours to pursue your dreams.
For the majority, whether the work itself is the ultimate manifestation of your dreams, or merely a way to make those dreams happen, it needs to get done.
The following infographic makes some interesting observations about how workaholics act and interact with the world. Whether you agree with the results or not may mean that you’re a workaholic in denial. You might also be really lazy and refuse to accept that you’re not doing the amount of work necessary to achieve your goals.
The infographic is brought to you by Wrike free simple project management software
When you start work and end work is a big factor
The first two questions and their sub-questions are really interesting and make some tongue-in-cheek references to most people’s work habits. The animation of the red-eyed lady working at her computer could be interpreted in a number of ways including a woman who works way to hard, or as mentioned in question 1-C; someone who needs to drink or use some other kind of narcotic to actually get down to work.
Time management skills warning signs of a workaholic
The graphic/questionnaire takes some jabs at the difference in lunchtime habits between workaholics and regular folks. I don’t feel this to be a real factor, as what you eat is your choice and not indicative of work habits — Ie., eating at your desk might just mean you’re working toward a better work/life balance and want to get off earlier.
Though, a trip to the local bar might not be the best lunchtime routine! Taking your work home with you is also mentioned (Ie., your boss texting you after hours). For an entrepreneur, business never sleeps. If you work for someone else, turning your phone off after hours isn’t a bad idea (just make this clear to management up-front).
Workaholics don’t take vacations?
The graphic makes some funny references about how workaholics view vacation time, and how they view those who take regular vacations. This is one of the most compelling set of questions, as we have to take more time to ourselves than those mandated by local and Federal governments.
If you or a coworker take more vacations than a company offers (Ie., sudden sick days when you’re not sick), neither of you can say you’re a workaholic, and your job/business is likely at risk!
Work/life balance is key
I encourage everyone to complete the questionnaire in the graphic and take an honest assessment of how you do and view your work. An entrepreneur obviously can’t avoid taking their work home with them, but we all need to take time to ourselves (and/or our families).
We need hobbies and interests outside work, and need to take time to completely “turn off.” Not just our smartphones and other devices, but to turn off from work and turn on to life!