Today is National Workaholics Day. It is a day to remind you that learning what work/life balance means to you and how to implement it into your world. For instance, there’s nothing wrong with grinding. Grinding is putting the work into your plan and working hard. However, burnout is real, and it needs to be addressed before it is too late.
What is a Workaholic?
A workaholic isn’t someone who simply works hard. They are married to their work. The one at a party or personal event checking email. A workaholic is someone who would rather be at work on most days then somewhere having the time of their life. They are the first in the office and the last to leave. When you ask them how life is they lead with “work is..” The workaholic is praised because they not only believe in the company, but they also become it.
A workaholic is also someone who for the most part doesn’t create healthy boundaries. When it is time for down time they struggle and have immense guilt. There is nothing wrong with building a brand, working hard in a company, or even believing in a business, but breaks are essential.
How Can you Implement Breaks in your Work or Business?
Set time aside to check email when you first get to workdedicate an hour. After you check your emails and there are no meetings, schedule a 15-minute breakfast or coffee/tea break. If you are swamped with meetings and can control the schedule, add in 15 minutes in between. Use that to take a breather-a walk or maybe even mediate. Trust me you can mediate at work, and it doesn’t have to be a huge ordeal. Consider journaling in that 15 minutes or refuel with food or water. Whatever you choose it’s about being aware that you are deserving of a break.
Vacation and Time Away
If you have time sitting and you aren’t using it-change that. For instance, take a day a week or once a month to do nothing. I would suggest scheduling and planning a vacation. There is nothing wrong with taking time away. Even for online business owners who don’t have standard business hours, take a break. When I went to Disney, I set content up that would fill in me being present. It’s important to build but also learn that in building rest days are essential to a healthy lifestyle.
Even if you don’t go somewhere fancy, you can simply spend a few days catching up on rest, taking a me day or whatever else your heart desires.
Mental Health for the Workaholic
One of the things I hear from fellow workaholics is they do not have enough time. They are always thinking that their jobs are on the chopping block. They can’t let their hair hang because the fear or anxiety of their job is real. When was the last time you used your Employees benefits for therapy for work. Never used it. The time is now. Use that employee benefit of speaking to a therapist of the fears you feel to be accomplished in your workplace. Therapy is for many different reasons. You can talk to someone about being the one that everyone looks up to always be on. Trust me your therapist can give you tips and uncover where your workaholic behavior has started.
For me I grew up knowing that as a Black girl that I would have to work extra hard to show up as excellence among my peers. I was taught this as a kid. Therefore, perfectionism became a part of my everyday life. Being perfect is draining. Having to anticipate the needs of others is draining as well. I had to unlearn bad communication styles, burn out, and more.
Today more than ever we need the workaholic to continue to work hard but add balance. Take some time off and away from your computer/laptop. Go on a vacation and let the team do what you trained them to do. Be present in your life outside of work. If you haven’t talked to your children, spouse, or just enjoyed some quiet moments at home-do it now. You can work hard without burning the midnight oil. Trust me one thing about oil is that it needs to be refilled. Overused oil smells. We can all smell your exhaustion, irritability, and more when you don’t take the time for you.
