Are you a Workaholic?

110°F, sand, a nice cocktail and an email on your smartphone letting you know that your company achieved a major goal because of you. Another good example that shows you work takes no vacation, unless you want to. Are you one of those people who can’t enjoy a break because you feel guilty for not being at the office? If the answer is yes, then you’re doomed: you are a Workaholic.

This is a phenomenon that affects most countries in the world. In Japan, there are so many people dying because of this that there is even a word to describe it: “Karoshi”, “overwork death”. In Latin America, it’s a rising phenomenon that affects mostly men between 35 and 45, according to studies. If you’re afraid of reaching this point, pay attention to this article that will help you figure out how to balancing balance work and personal life.

Workaholics tend to connect the value of a person with his or her professional success, becoming more and more competitive and concerned about the image that they show to the world. They are afraid their professional plans will fail, or they won’t be able to keep their boss happy. This makes them constantly active, 24/7.

Luis Franchi, a recognized Dean of one of the biggest private universities in Latin America, spends 14 hours at his office and doesn’t leave his working environment without his notebook. He doesn’t consider himself a workaholic, but instead he thinks of himself as an “energy worker”. He says that “the only way of making money to provide my family with economic stability is working at the maximum level. If someone knows another method, I’m willing to listen”.

Specialists consider that this necessity of being the best requires that connectivity should be constant, especially now that Outlook and Skype are available on the phone. They advise that if a professional is on vacation, the best thing to do is to make a concentrated effort to forget about work. Maybe leave your smartphone in the hotel room.

Are you ready to unplug your notebook and turn off your phone?

Test. Addictions are called denial diseases, because the ones that suffer from them are the last ones to recognize the problem and take control of the situation. So, if you think you’re becoming a workaholic, check the following list. If more than eight sentences in the list are a YES for you, you need to pay attention:

• I feel guilty when I have nothing to do at work
• I’m unable to deny a request from my boss
• I find it difficult to establish a priority order
• I’m at full throttle all the time
• If I’m interrupted while working, I get irritated
• I handle many subjects at the same time
• I’m the last one to leave the office
• I think of my job when I’m at home
• I feel guilty when I leave the office
• I feel anxious when vacations are close
• I keep working from home after work
• I delay my vacations or just don’t take them
• I don’t mind working extra time
• My family insists that I should not work so much
• I compete with myself
• I can’t relax outside the office
• I “believe” in human cloning and I commit to too many activities at the same time
• I have health issues because I work a lot
• I always make the effort to be the best at everything
• I dedicate my whole time to achieve professional success
• I’m seated all the time: my legs and eyes hurt

Be sure that a key to success is not the quantity but the quality of work, and the best advice to achieve that is to control your time: give everything at the right time for the right causes, without giving up the importance of a good rest and the value of enjoying your time out of your work environment.