You find it harder to say no
One of the most insidious things about workaholism is that it creates a spiral that’s difficult to get out of. As your workload increases, you find it harder and harder to say no and set boundaries, and this only leads to you having more on your plate. As a result, you feel even more pressure to keep saying yes and striving to get on top of things.
You become less interested in your hobbies
If you struggle with workaholic tendencies, you’ll be familiar with the impulse to neglect everything that isn’t work, in order to conserve energy, time and brain space. Unfortunately, this means that many workaholics find that they either don’t have any time for once-loved hobbies or that the hobbies no longer bring them joy and peace. This is disastrous for long-term mental health and fulfilment.
You have a hard time sleeping
Workaholics often end every day completely drained and exhausted, while also finding it difficult to fall and stay asleep. This is partly because your brain keeps whirring with responsibilities and tasks even after the body taps out, but also partly due to something called “revenge procrastination”, where someone stays up late in order to regain some sense of ownership over their own time.
You become addicted to your phone
Maybe the biggest indication that you’re succumbing to workaholic tendencies is if you carry your work with you on your phone at all times. If the first thing you do when you wake up is check your work inbox, or you’re scared to even turn your phone off during a movie in case you miss an important phone call, then it may be time to examine your priorities.
You lose the ability to delegate
Workaholics often live in a prison of their own making, because they take on more responsibility than any one person could cope with alone, but then are afraid to share the tasks in case the work isn’t up to their own standards. If you know you have a reputation for being bad at delegating, then you may be suffering from this same issue.
You become more impatient
Have you found that since you started firing on all cylinders at work, you’ve started getting unreasonably annoyed at every little inconvenience? If sitting in traffic, waiting on a slow printer or even putting food in the microwave has become infuriating, it could be that you’re overloaded at work and your body is looking for an outlet for all the pent-up stress.
You find it hard to focus
One of the unfortunate truths about workaholism is that, despite it requiring an increased amount of focus and motivation to keep up with the increased workload, it can actually lead to a decimation of both. If you’ve found that you’re unable to read, complete crosswords or even sit through an entire movie the way you used to, your work-life balance could be to blame.
You become distanced from your friends
When work becomes your primary and only focus, lots of things can fall by the wayside, including your friendships. Whether you’ve withdrawn from friendships due to lack of time and energy, or your friends have stopped calling because all you talk about is work, repairing those relationships is central to a well-balanced and joyful life.
You’ve started dreaming about work
Has work started following you home and even into your dreams? Your subconscious is often better at being honest about your true emotional state and priorities than your waking self, so if you’re behind a desk even in your dreams then that’s a sign that you feel stifled and trapped by your workload and you need to make some changes.
You become less excited about food
When you’re stressed about work, making nourishing, healthy and filling meals can slide to the bottom of your priority list pretty quickly. If you’ve noticed that you’ve been throwing together the quickest dinners you can and eating lunch at your desk, it could mean you need to start making food a source of joy and creativity again.
