Do others comment on how hard you work? Do they also mention how much you manage to accomplish in such little time or do they complain that you never seem to find the time for the good things in life?
There is a fine line between being productive and being a workaholic.
Do any of these sound familiar to you?
You absolutely have to work all weekend. Not just for an hour or two but most of Saturday and Sunday too.
You don’t go anywhere without some type of mobile device and have to be in contact at all times.
You are compelled to be busy, usually multi-tasking and you feel uncomfortable when you aren’t working or are away from your job. It usually affects your sleep and you don’t eat well because of it.
Most of your conversations are work related.
Delegating responsibility is very difficult for you. You feel if the job warrants doing, then it had better be done by you in order to be properly completed. Your need for control over certain aspects of each job leaves others feeling that though they may be responsible for the job, it still has to be done your way.
Your standards can be impossibly high or they fluctuate depending on your emotional level at the time. Since you actually feel that the job you are doing is never good enough, this mind set gets passed on to those who work for you. They can never be sure of how you will feel from one day to the next about the work they do, even if it is well done.
All or any of these can be a sign that you are a workaholic and you may not even recognize these qualities in yourself. Workaholics have such a driving need to please others that they don’t notice the negative effect on their health and well-being. It can also impact others if they are in a position of authority.
Being productive is a different kettle of fish. Productive people are usually constructive and the results are useful and abundant. What they do produce is of value and there is lots of it!
If you plan your day, keep track of your projects and have long term goals and priorities, then you are productive!
You make sure that your activities each day are contributing toward your long-term objectives and you invest a lot of thought in planning your time, knowing that to work backwards from your goals by creating milestones is the best way to achieve them.
You get things done without feeling stressed. Consistent activity and performance are signs of productivity. You don’t worry about your problems while you’re working because you focus on one thing at a time until you have completed what you are doing. Only then, will you move on to the next task.
Organization is very important to you and you make sure that you have time for the things that relax you, such as reading or going for a walk.
Most importantly, you work on your own agenda and don’t get distracted by the day-to-day issues that tend to arise.
If you’re a workaholic, you will see immediate benefits by taking a step back to focus on being more productive. Start by delegating all of the tasks you don’t need to do to free up more time to focus for all of the things only you can do.
For tips on how to change your mind set from that of being a workaholic to being productive, read our next post.
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