The following is a list of notes I have observed about myself, as a workaholic, and those around me, both those who can relate and those who find me insane.
1. It can get lonely.
It is hard to find someone who wants to work with me 24/7. I work in my free time, and not many other people like to work when they have free time. My friends often invite me to do things with them, but I prefer to work, and find that I get a little lonely because of this.
2. It can be tedious.
When I am working for hours on end, a great portion of the time, I am happy, as it is one of my greatest passion. But just as well, after hours, and hours, I can get tired of some of the monotony. As I tell my friends during those times, “I want to go out and do something fun, but I do not know what.” But what do I do for fun? I work.
3. It can become boring and dull.
After working for hours nonstop, your interest slowly decreases, often no matter the degree of your passion in what you are doing. We all reach a limit where enough is enough, even when you are working for your passions.
4. It can cause stress—and a lot of it!
Because I enjoy being busy and crossing off each item on a to-do list, I often seek out and take on more jobs and responsibilities. At times, I have taken on more than I can handle, and set a bar too high for my 5’2” self. I feel the need to exceed my own expectations,
5. It can kill any fun or free time.
If I have it, I just want to work, as I feel I am being unproductive. As crazy as it sounds, I feel every second I spend being unproductive will come back to bite me or prevent me from progressing and making something of myself. But the amount of free time I actually possess is incredibly limited, as I try to extend myself, employed in many positions and doing many things.
6. It can make you irritable and bossy.
Not many, if any, people have the same work ethic as me, and it can become frustrating when people do not have the same dedication or drive as I do. Likewise, as hard as it is for me to fulfill my own expectations and reach that high bar, there can be an even greater struggle for others. I do not mean to be bossy, or take charge; I just set sights far in the clouds, and will climb that mountain, to reach it.
7. It can wreck your body physically and mentally.
“I will eat after I finish this last page!” I find myself saying this time and time again, but as I become so engrossed in the work I am doing, I either ignore the fact I need to feed myself or instead of something healthy, for ease I choose something quick, simple, and unfortunately quite often unhealthy.
8. It can burden you.
Too much! There are so many responsibilities, but there are only 24 hours in a day. Prioritizing helps, but each task must still be completed, and there is never a blank to-do list. Waking up to yesterday’s responsibilities, in addition to today’s and preparing for tomorrow can press heavily on your shoulders.
9. It can hurt your relationships.
Turning down an invitation to allow you are able to work on and complete paperwork, a new project, or some research is okay every once in a while. But there comes a point where I find myself turning down a greater proportion of invites, convincing myself the life of work is more important. But relationships are also important, and personally, I recognize I have hurt many friends by putting my work in place of them.
10. It can burn your energy quickly.
Naps in the afternoon are my nemesis. Because I often stress myself out and cut back on sleeping in order to get more done each day, headaches become a frequent occurrence and, seeking relief from exhaustion, I take the occasional nap in the afternoon. These naps open another endless cycle where I stress, fall asleep from exhaustion, but then stress again upon realization of the time I have “wasted.”
11. It can take a toll on your confidence.
I can never reach that bar I set for myself, as with every task, I set expectations for myself at a higher and higher degree. My self-confidence has been hurt more than once, as I view myself as a failure when I cannot exceed these standards. At times, it feels impossible to fulfill my own vision for myself and I feel I have failed myself and others.
12. It can turn people off or away.
The general populous enjoys a balance between work and leisure. This balance does not exist for me, as they are one, but others see my balance as just work. This is true—my balance is typically just work, but I have fun doing it.
13. It can act as a crutch.
I find that when I have nothing to do, I turn to work. I will create problems for myself to solve or topics to research. If I don’t want to go out with my friends, I use work as my excuse, as to not hurt their feelings. My most frequent phrase is “I am sorry, I have a lot of work to do,” and even when I truly do not have work to finish, I will create such a “to-do.”
14. It can be hard to admit.
Am I a workaholic?
