I'm a career expert - here are 5 signs you're a workaholic

I'm a career expert - here are 5 signs you're a workaholic

• Andy Brown, leadership coach from Dorchester, reveals signs of workaholism
• READ MORE: I'm a career expert - this is how to tell if you have a toxic boss

A career expert has revealed the five major signs that you are a workaholic and how to get better at leaving the 9-5 at the office.

Andy Brown, a leadership coach, speaker and author from Dorchester, said many people are happy to say that they are 'married' to their jobs and wear workaholism as a badge of honour.

However, he stressed that being glued to your emails 24/7 and putting your job above all else is not the key to a successful career.

Sacrificing leisure time with family and friends and neglecting your physical and mental health leads to less resilience, and can make you more likely to have panic attacks and experience failed relationships.

Andy told Femail: 'Lots of people would never admit to being "workaholics", but the signs are there.

'Often it's those around them who see it mostly clearly - the partner who's left to parent alone every night or the friends who no longer text because they already know the answer will be "not tonight, got to work".'

Here, he reveals the five key signs that you are a workaholic, along with eight ways of combating the problem to ensure you can live your life with more balance.

5 signs you’re a workaholic

1. Punishing work hours

Andy says if you are consistently working late into the evening and at weekends, you are a workaholic.

This may mean sacrificing your sleep or downtime with your loved ones to answer emails or log onto work systems.

2. An inability to switch off

This may present itself as you struggling to relax or finding it hard to stop thinking about work during your time away from the office.

This could lead to anxiety attacks, sleepless nights and restlessness, which could ultimately result in burnout.

3. A deteriorating personal life

If you are 'married to the job' it means that your work will always come first, making it harder to maintain relationships and friendships.

Before starting your role, you may have enjoyed hobbies that allowed you to socialise with others, but these have now been neglected.

4. Constant stress

You may be a workaholic if you are experiencing chronic stress, fatigue, and burnout due to constant work.

According to the NHS, stress can present itself physically and mentally and lead to changes in behaviour.

Physical symptoms may include stomach problems, chest pain and muscle tension. Mental symptoms include difficulty concentrating, constantly worrying and being forgetful.

You may also be more snappy and irritable, sleeping or eating too much or too little and drinking and smoking more.

5. Feeling guilty for taking breaks

Do you work through your lunch and eat your food at your desk because you fear taking your break?

Or perhaps you don't take your full annual leave allowance because you feel like you're not being a 'team player'.

If you feel guilty or anxious when taking breaks or time off from work, these are signs that you could be suffering from workaholism.

8 ways to combat workaholism

1. Become aware when your emotional overdraft shows up

Andy said that many workaholics sacrifice their physical and or mental health for their work success, something he calls 'emotional overdraft'.

But in the long term, this can end in you becoming very stressed, overwhelmed and eventually burnout.

He said: It's a crisis for workers everywhere.By becoming aware that you have an emotional overdraft, and the specific behaviours that cause it to happen, you can spot unhealthy habits and make small changes straight away.'

2. Figure out what is really driving you to workaholism

Andy revealed the ten things that workaholics may think or behaviours that they embody which can diminish their effectiveness.

These ten things can directly influence performance and a tendency to overwork:

• Trust: I only trust myself; I don't trust others; I want to retain control
• Urgency: I'm short of time; I'm acting on reflex; I'm not thinking
• Expectation: it's normal to feel stressed; it's my habit
• Duty: it's my job; there's no alternative; the buck stops with me
• Just Flipping Do It (JFDI) : I get stuff done; I'm a doer
• Cost: we're short of money or resources
• At a loss: I'm out of ideas; I've no other solution
• Load-balancing: I have a short-term need; I'm stepping in to fill a gap
• Empathy: I'm part of the team; I'm showing care and commitment; I feel guilty if I don't
• Self-worth: it makes me feel needed; my work is important to me

Andy says that once you know which behaviours are showing up most frequently, you will then have the opportunity to change.

He said: 'For example, if trust is your key driver - you'll tend to pick up work that should be done by others because you don't trust them to get it done.

'Notice when you're undermining those around you, and step back.'

The expert said that many workers score highly on 'self-worth' and believe that by working harder, they will be seen as more worthy.

'This is rarely, if ever, the case. Stop valuing everyone else's opinion apart from your own and prioritise your own life choices. If you don't, someone else will make the choices for you,' Andy said.

3. Value you own health

Every person climbing the career ladder has different levels of resilience and what may be a week of rest and recovery for one person could be a week of energising for another.

Andy said that without building up your resilience, your impact and effectiveness at work and home start to decrease.

He said workaholics need to start appreciating their sleep, rest and play and see them as enablers to get their best work done, rather than an inconvenience that stops you from sending 'just one more email'.

'If your mobile phone battery dies, you don't expect it to make 'just one more call' and consider it weak if it doesn't work,' Andy added.

4. Reject 'it's supposed to be hard'

Andy said a harmful myth about working is the belief that you must always be struggling.

When you can't get everything done, he said there are three options:

1. Worry and beat yourself up with stress

2. Identify a 'route through' – work like a horse until you get to the end

3. Work smarter, not harder: get some help; call in some favours; delegate; improve processes

'There are thousands of ways to get more done with less effort if we are able to break our habitual ways of working,' he said.

5. Be empathetic, but not at all costs

The expert said that there's nothing wrong with being empathetic, but when empathy springs from a need to be liked or a yearning to belong, that's when it starts to be at your own expense.

'Misapplying empathy stops you from being effective. When you do something because you feel you should do it, such as work late because other people are still at their desks and you want to be supportive, you're not helping them,' Andy said.

'Ironically, they may be desperate to go home but don't think they can because you're still there.'

6. Notice other people's behaviour

Andy says that it is important to realise that other people have good days and bad days just like you do and sharing this idea would lead to a 'positive ripple'.

'If everyone around you saw the size of their emotional overdrafts as indicators of how well or badly they were coping at work, resilience levels would be higher and you'd almost certainly see a reduction in stress, burnout and workaholism and a collectively healthier relationship to work,' he said.

7. Listen to those who love you

While it may be an uncomfortable conversation to have, if you think you are a workaholic you should ask your loved ones for advice and how your addiction to work might affect them.

How are they experiencing the consequence of your 'addiction'? Difficult conversations you've been avoiding might just be the push you need to make some real changes.

8. Work out what you would rather be doing

What do you value? What else could you do if work wasn't consuming you?

Andy says to create a goal that isn't work-related and apply the positives from your workaholic tendencies - tenacity, diligence, focus - to something that will do you good. How could you apply your talent for the good of others or your community?

'Everyone can be successful at work without becoming a workaholic and running the risk of sacrificing their mental and physical health,' Andy said.

'Simply becoming aware of your behaviours can lead to immediate and lasting change for the better.'

• Andy Brown is a top leadership coach, speaker and author of new book The Emotional Overdraft: 10 simple changes for balancing business success and wellbeing