“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” This proverb essentially means that without time off from work, you get boring. And possibly bored.More than this, workaholic types can become numbed and desensitised to the world around them outside work, potentially costing them their health and their relationships: things highly prized by most people.Depending on how enveloped in your work you are, you might find yourself becoming entirely absorbed by it, even drowning in it, without quite knowing it’s happening. The ‘always on’ nature of work today doesn’t help, and is arguably the most responsible factor in overworking. We are rarely uncontactable.
But there are other things you can do to address workaholism, without becoming less effective and productive in the workplace. This blog post outlines what we at Atlantic Resource think are the 3 key workaholic tips.
1. Work Out Your Priorities
Your priorities should not be vague and blurry and kind of elastic depending on your mood. They should be pinned down and clear and totally cemented. Sure, they might change or modify gradually over time. The priorities of a 22 year-old will likely be different to those of a 52 year-old. But you should never lose sight of where they are at right now.What really matters to you? Is it staring at emails on your smartphone screen or laptop, reacting to a demanding boss? Is it being as productive as physically possible? At a certain age, perhaps it is. The chances are though, that other things matter too. Family, friendships, relationships, health and exercise, good food, simply enjoying life.Use a pen and put down some words on paper. See how it pans out. Fix it somewhere it’ll catch your eye most days. It should, with any luck, remind you of your priorities and nudge you into actively doing something about it.
2. Firmly Manage Your Time
That last part, doing something about it, that can be tricky. It often requires a firm level of time management skills. This has grown more difficult than ever, thanks to those little boxes of the world’s information we all carry around with us. We are all more distractible than ever. But we can iron some of that out if we’re just a little tougher on ourselves.Do I really need to flick through that gallery of kittens? No, I absolutely do not. There are a million more important things I have to do today. (But ohmygod HOW adorable is that one!) No. Enough of all that.Use a diary, calendar, planner, whatever app is your preferred method. Lay out a timeplan as well as you can, and stick to it. That is your new boss and what it says, you do. And it includes downtime, relaxing, exercising, spending time with people who matter. That should not be a lower priority because it does not make you any money.
[Read the Atlantic Resource blog post: working happy]
3. Completely disconnect
When trying to disconnect and relax, even keeping your phone within easy reach can be a danger.Most of us know that temptation to reach across, just for a minute, if the film is failing to keep us gripped, tap, swipe and open an app. Our attention spans can be disgustingly short.But therein lie dangers of being distracted and teased back to work, to email, to things you think you *should* do, or *should* have done. ‘Should’ is a particularly dangerous word when you are trying to disconnect and relax. In the blink of an eye you are not disconnected. You are fully connected and entirely absent from your physical space. The person or people with whom you were trying to spend time are left painfully frustrated and cut adrift.Leave your phone and laptop switched off in another room. Depending on the level of your workaholic addiction, you might get the craving unsettled sweats for a time. But persist, and it will pass. At the least, use your new time management skills to pack up work by a certain time, and keep it packed up for the day.Of course everyone has their own ideas when it comes to workaholic therapy. But these are the main workaholic tips from us at Atlantic Resource. Clear priorities, firm time management and complete disconnection. You have to be cruel to be kind to yourself sometimes. It’s worth it, and much preferable to becoming a dull boy.Need to talk about your work options in construction, catering, office admin or care? Get in touch.
