Marnie Pehrson - Christians Living the Abundant Life

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Are You a Workaholic?
Marnie Pehrson

Workaholic: "One who has a compulsive and unrelenting need to work."

You might be a workaholic if . . .

• You'd rather work than spend time with your family.
• You work on weekends and vacations.
• You work more than 40 hours a week.
• You'd rather talk about work than anything else.
• When someone asks you how you're doing, you proudly answer "staying busy."
• Working interferes with your relationships.
• While others are enjoying leisure hours, you're working.
• While you're taking time off, you're thinking about work.
• Work is your play.
• During your time off you find yourself problem-solving or brainstorming work solutions.
• You may get frustrated with other people who don't make work a priority.
• You feel guilty if you're not doing something productive.
• You quit engaging in hobbies you used to enjoy because they aren't practical or don't make you money.
• You get irritated when people ask you to stop working to do something else.
• You have a tendency to work or read through meals.
• You feel like if a job is to be done right, you should do it yourself.

I've been hesitant to discuss the negative effects of workaholism because there are some people who will use my words to justify their inactivity. But I'm assuming if you're reading this blog you aren't a lazy person looking for an excuse to do nothing.

Another reason I've been hesitant to discuss the negative effects of workaholism is that there are so many perceived positive side effects like:

• Getting a lot done
• Making a positive impact on the world around you.
• Making money.

But, I have come to realize that workaholics don't really make as much money as they could make. Nor do they make the positive impact on the world that they could be making. And frankly, they aren't as productive as they think they are.

Why?

Because the fundamental driving force behind most workaholics is the need for control. Workaholics tend to believe "if it is to be, it's up to me." This Lone Ranger thinking is crippling, and often leads to . . .

• An inability or unwillingness to delegate.
• An inability or unwillingness to draw on a Higher Power.
• Burn-out and myopia amidst the minutia.
• Failure to see the big picture and solutions that are right in front of your face.

The workaholic may erroneously equate busyness with

• productivity
• righteousness
• value as a human being

In The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino warned against being "busy with unimportant tasks." Much of what the workaholic does is not productive. It's simply staying busy with unimportant tasks.

I would like to emphasize that I am not diminishing the value of work. A good work ethic is to be applauded, but workaholism takes work ethic to an extreme. A workaholic is trying to control her world; and in over-doing this need for control, she actually hurts herself, others and her pocketbook.

Over the last 10 years as I've reduced my work load, delegated, automated and taken time for myself, I've been able to make more in a month than most people do in a year. It is a fallacy that making money requires constant and continuous work. Granted, one could say that many years of hard work sowed the harvest that I reap today. But, much of that work was unnecessary and inefficient. Rather the key to my success could be reduced to

• Consistent, persistent effort over time -- by myself and my staff.
• Attunement to inspiration and acting swiftly to make small but effectual tweaks in what I was doing.

More often than not, the greatest results have come from small inspired shifts, not from massive undertakings.

About the Author
Marnie Pehrson is a wife and mother of 6, the author of 20 nonfiction and fiction titles, and the creator of IdeaMarketers.com and SheLovesGod.com. She's also a recovering workaholic who is documenting her journey out of workaholism on her Unplugged blog. Marnie Pehrson may be contacted at http://www.marniepehrson.com/unplugged/. Click here to view more articles by Marnie Pehrson.

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