It’s not so much that we love working as much as we love the remuneration that comes along with it. And with remuneration comes the doors that open up alongside it.
However, there are some of us out there that find ourselves becoming easily immersed in the stack of papers that we have to complete and sometimes it becomes difficult to leave that desk once you get started.
The fact of the matter is simple: you have to accept the fact that you are a workaholic and you need to determine ways you can improve your life quality once you get out of the office.
Incorporate Fun Into Your Schedule
This sounds like a very simple idea, but the benefits of something so small can truthfully go such a long way. As a working professional, you need to be able to find an appropriate work-life balance that not only takes care of your boss’s needs, but also your own too.
You should be able to have a a schedule that incorporates the priorities that need to be taken care of, and also the things that you want to do and what would make you happy.
Which is why it’s time to incorporate fun into your schedule again, consider your work but try to consider yourself equally. I know a bunch of working professionals that plan extracurricular festivities for themselves as a means of having not only something to look forward to, but also something that makes your hours worked more productive.
By setting miniature goals and incentives for yourself, you can allow yourself to become happier, healthier and a better worker. Allowing fun to become a part of your life again is possible even when you still want to satisfy that workaholic part of you that doesn’t want to drop the management role and go out to party.
Some great ideas to incorporate fun into your life would be…
- Create a system where for every “x” amount of client meetings or business meetings that you have to attend, you can add one trip to the cocktail lounge with your coworkers on a Thursday or Friday.
- Nobody likes Mondays, but maybe make Mondays more fun by treating yourself to lunch at your favorite restaurant near your place of work.
- Plan your weekends ahead of time, whether it is a concert or maybe going out to dinner with old friends – the more time you have to look forward to an event, the more excited you will be.
Hold Yourself Accountable and Enlist Others To Help You
I’ve found throughout my professional career that it’s easy to neglect your priorities or get side tracked if you don’t have the angel on your shoulder telling you to get back to work.
We’re all capable of having that devil on our shoulder that enables us to slack off and get side tracked easily, but it takes a certain type of person to make sure that the angel is the one that always prevails. One of the most effective means of staying on top of yourself even when self-control takes a backseat to temptation, would be to have one of your close coworkers or friends to make sure you stay on top of your goals for you!
I know, I know – sometimes asking for outside help can be daunting and it surely requires you to swallow your pride as a professional, but I can’t emphasize the benefits enough.
Schedule Friends and Family Time, Stick To It
I know that work is what puts the bread on the table at the end of the day, but that does not mean that you can prioritize working engagements over family engagements. If you feel you may be a workaholic or if someone has told you that you are a workaholic, the first step is going to be admitting your tendencies for what they are and then figuring out a means of how you can allow family and work to co-exist.
The last thing you want is to push your family to the side simply because you cannot get yourself out of the office. For most of us, you spend almost as much time working in the office as you would at home at the end of the day. Therefore, if you’re going to have a half-split of family and work, you need to make the most of your time out of the office and make sure your family knows how much you mean to them. You can schedule friends and family time by…
- Making sure you set concrete plans with your family or friends, do not be vague and schedule something without the intention of following through with said plans.
- Create a list of priorities that you would like to accomplish in your life, particularly revolving around how you can be a better friend or family member and talk to someone about these priorities.
- Conjure up some family and friend oriented weekend getaways that will maximize the time you are together, therefore leaving no time wasted.
Be Sure To Leave the Office On-Time
It’s extremely easy to get caught up in your work and before you know it, it’s time to go home. Where most people fail at this point in time, is whether or not they choose to finish out their work and stay late, or realize that they can push it to the top of their list the next morning and complete it when they’re on the clock.
It’s very easy to forgo that second option and just elect to stay late because you’d rather have everything done than placed on your plate for the next day.
However, one of the main reasons why we are unhappy and why we don’t get to enjoy our free time as much, is primarily because of time management. If you do not leave the office on time and do not find yourself getting out at a reasonable hour if you do choose to stay late, you’re missing out on valuable time that could be spent with your family or friends.
It is imperative that you stick to the schedule that you’ve been given so you can allow yourself more time to flourish outside of the office.
