The Gene Pool

Whenever work and work ethics discussions arise, workaholics are also discussed. What is a workaholic? What are the warning signs for being a workaholic?

From health and balance:

• Trouble delegating work (workaholics tend to be control freaks and micro-managers)
• Neglecting other aspects of one’s nonworking life (like the dad who never has time to attend Junior’s school play)
• Incorporating other aspects of life into work (such as trying to turn a hobby into a new business)

Based on these aspects, you can definitely look for the danger signs. But the big thing would be to decide on how you want to stay away. The big problem is that some of these aspects are learned, and therefore not easily changed.

Take for example delegation- Delegation takes trust in the ability of others to do their jobs well. In some cases you have to take the risk that something will not work out as you expected, but you’ll still have to fix the problems. That is not something everyone can do. I’ve seen it happen around me where people have said “If i do it myself, i’m sure it will be good. If someone else does it, we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out”. That is also a part of searching for perfection. On the other hand, delegation is something you can learn. Just by starting with small tasks being delegated to others, finding out those others can and will complete the job, and then moving on to bigger tasks. Just remember, there is always a chance something goes wrong, so this is something you’ll have to factor in in your planning.

I know of myself that i can delegate. I also know that i sometimes have a tendency to do things myself, just to get it over and done with. However, whether i do it depends totally on the situation. I also know that this results in working some long hours, just to finish my job and that of others. But that is something you can work on. It is all just a matter of letting go.

The question for you would be: Are you a workaholic? You can test it here and find out.

I did, and i was glad of the results

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