Tips for the Workaholic

All you think about is work, and all you do is work. You’re a workaholic. Executive jobs can be addicting; accounting jobs can be consuming; even the littlest job can turn you into a workaholic. As soon as you acknowledge and admit that you are one, then you can start using the following tips so that you can get back your life without hurting your work:

• Come to work, early. The earlier you tackle work, the better you will feel about it. Arrive at work a little bit earlier than usual; say 30 minutes ahead of everybody else, so that you can have some peace and quiet alone. By the time that your workmates start, you would have already warmed up and built momentum for the rest of the day. This will give you a sense of fulfillment that will hopefully convince you to go home on time.
• Learn how to prioritize your tasks. Tackle the big tasks first, tasks that make you feel proud and fulfilled after accomplishing them, regardless of the amount of work that still waits to be done. It is much better to leave work with your big tasks finished. Tomorrow is a new day, and it can be more relaxed since all you have to do is finish minor tasks.

• Find something else to do. If you have a hobby to come home to and to leave work for, you would more likely leave work on time and let go of tasks that can wait till tomorrow.
• Take breaks. Breaks help you be more focused on work, instead of being so consumed about it the whole day, yet still remain unproductive.
• Disconnect. During weekends, after business hours, during breaks. Work hours should be treated as such, and free time should be given the same amount of respect. If you’re constantly online checking work related things, you will never finish working.
• Talk with other people. Be inspired with their exciting lives that do not revolve around work alone. You might feel a tinge of jealousy and a pound of inspiration, enough to spur you to give yourself some time for non-work stuff.
• Take long vacations. This type of activity will help you see that there is more to life than work. A vacation will make you realize that making the most out of the time that you spend in the office is more worth it than beating yourself up for not finishing tasks that are not yet due until next month.
• Give yourself some credit. If you acknowledge that you are doing a great job, then you will feel a bit more fulfilled and so loosen your grip on work. List all your accomplishments, in the same way that you list your tasks, and you will see how productive you actually are.