He had health problems.
He would work to the point of exhaustion.
He wouldn’t want to get out of his seat to eat or even take a bathroom break.
These were the warning signs that led Jeff, a coordinator for a local Workaholics Anonymous Group, to seek help five years ago. Jeff, who declined to have his last name published, citing the organization’s rules, said he learned the hard way that employer accolades and financial rewards are not the only measures of success.
Jeff considers himself a recovering workaholic, or a person who has allowed work to take over almost every aspect of his life, causing actual health problems and increasing detachment from friends and family. The line between a workaholic and an extreme worker may be getting blurrier, Jeff said.
“Our culture, in my judgment, almost encourages workaholism because we always want to know how much money someone makes and assess their personal worth using that,” Jeff, who is in his 40s, told RedEye. “At Workaholics Anonymous, I learned to value my health, my family relationships and remember how important it is to maintain friendships.”
Jeff said he worries that cell phones, wireless devices and laptops make it too easy to work long hours outside the office. He said he has personally witnessed professionals in their early 20s come through the doors of Workaholics Anonymous meetings held weekly in Evanston and Chicagoland. It is particularly sad to see at such a young age, he said.
So how do you know if you are going from star employee to a super-extreme worker on the road to a physical or even mental breakdown?
Check out 10 of the 20 warning signs from workaholics-anonymous.org. If you answer yes to three or more of these job-related questions, Jeff recommends visiting a local meeting. Times, dates and locations are listed under “Illinois” at workaholics-anonymous.org/meetings1.html#il.
– Do you get more excited about your work than about family or anything else?
– Do you take work with you to bed? On weekends? On vacation?
– Is work the activity you like to do best and talk about most?
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– Do you take on extra work because you are concerned that it won’t otherwise get done?
– Do you believe that it is OK to work long hours if you love what you are doing?
– Do you get impatient with people who have other priorities besides work?
– Are you afraid that if you don’t work hard you will lose your job or be a failure?
– Do you get irritated when people ask you to stop doing your work in order to do something else?
– Have your long hours hurt your family or other relationships?
– Do you believe that more money will solve the other problems in your life?