10 Signs that You are Overworking | Workaholic Syndrome

Hard work is a virtue that everyone cherishes, unlike laziness. But what happens when one overworks? It is also not a good thing. While people need to be hardworking, they also need to moderate their commitments to work. Working too much is dangerous to our health and social life.

A workaholic is someone who works compulsively and does no have limit to how much time he/she dedicates to work. An overworking lifestyle can arise from obsession with the tasks at hand or circumstances that necessitate such excessive commitment. 

The Following are Signs that You are Overworking Beyond Your Strength

1. Lack of work-life-balance

When work overshadows other aspects of your life, it could be a sign that you are a workaholic. Even when you are a hardworking person, you are supposed to still create time for other things in your life including your social life and personal pursuits. One thing excessive work does is stealing every moment that you have and making you focus only on work. Work-life balance is very vital in everything you do, without which you need to find a solution to your over-busy life.

2. Denying yourself sleep and vacation because of work

There are people who overwork so much that they deny themselves, sleep and vacation. Most people in this category do multiple jobs which cover their day and night shifts. If you are in this category, then you may be overworking.

While multiple work schedule can help you make ends meet, they can also harm your health. Instead of going through that kind of work stress, dedicate time to search for good paying jobs that can also give you time to rest. Rest is as important as exercise, food and other things we need to stay healthy.

3. Continuous stress and exhaustion from work

Overworking is not just about how much time you dedicate to work. Doing heavy job that is beyond your strength is also overworking. How to know that your work is heavier than you is that you continuously feel exhausted, tired and stressed every time you get home from work. Mentally demanded job positions such as those that require planning and analytics can also make you feel drained. it all bounds back to the fact that you need rest.

4. Most subjects of your life is all about work

If everything in your life is about work, including your conversations, then you are overworking. Just like we discussed about work-life balance, everything about you is not supposed to be centralized on work. You have a life to live. Focusing too much on work without time for play makes you a workaholic, and can be a mental health related syndrome.

5. You don't have friends except work colleagues

People who dedicate excessive time to work rarely go out to events or socialize with others. This makes it hard for them to make new friends. Such individuals only have colleagues at work as friends, or a few friends they made in the past. Look around you, are the majority of people in your circle from workplace, if "yes", calling you "a workaholic" is not an insult. Yes, when you dedicate your life to only those at your workplace without building other relationships, it could be a sign that you are too obsessed with work.

6. You isolate yourself from family, friends and loved ones because of work

When too much work takes over your life, it is hard to connect with friends, family, loved ones and those that matter to you. In fact in extreme cases, you might feel disconnected from your relationship or you might not even need one. If you find yourself isolated from others because you always have one tasks or the other to complete, sorry, you are overworking. There is nothing we dedicate time to in this life that matters as our relationship with others. In order to maintain friendship and relationship, we need to offer them our times.

7. Work always make you forget your breakfast, lunch or dinner

Do you find yourself constantly eating late because of workload? Think about it, it could be that you are putting too much into that work, or you lack time management skills that you need to meet up your daily schedules. Food is so much important. When you allow work overload to continuously steal your dining moment, it could lead to health issues like gastric ulcer or malnutrition. Ignoring vital things like eating because of work can mean that you are a workaholic or you are just overworking.

8. People know "You are too busy"

Sometimes you may not even know that you are overworking. It is people around you that will notice it. When everyone thinks that you are too busy, it means that you have been isolated or not connected with them enough. This makes them to think that it is because of excessive work. If it is truly work that makes you scarce, then you are a workaholic.

9. You trade your health for work

Ignoring your ill-health for work means that you are either a workaholic or your current work is not a good one. When you fall sick, you are supposed to pause and take care of your health. Where you keep ignoring your ill-health because of work, it becomes a problem. So, trading your health for work is a sign of overworking. Health is one of the most important things in life. You are supposed to prioritize it.

10. When you feel like a stranger in your home

You can overwork so much that you hardly have time to spend at home. People who have this experience only have time at home on weekends and may not even create chance to feel at home. They might lose their places at home, losing their positions as husband/wife, father/mother, and sometimes feel like strangers in their own house. When this feelings come, think about the cause. Could it be that you are overworking? If that is the case, then you need to find solution to your over-busy lifestyle.

In conclusion, it is good to be hardworking, but being a workaholic is a bad news. Overworking has so many negative effects in your life. Even if the consequences of overworking does not manifest now, it might appear in your old age, leading to old age regret. Therefore, always try to balance-up your life by working moderately amidst breaks and socialization.