Are You Obsessed With Your Job?

(From CareerBuilder.com -- By Mary Lorenz)

It's 9 pm, and you're still at the office.

You promised your spouse that tonight was the night you'd be home by 6 pm.

After all, you haven't even made it home for dinner since -- come to think of it, you can't remember the last time you were home before 10 pm or your dinner didn't consist of processed vending machine fare.

But it's not your fault, you tell yourself.

If you don't do it, who will?

Putting in a little overtime is one thing, but how do you know when "enough" is too much?

According to WORKAHOLICS ANONYMOUS (WA), working more than 40 hours per week can be an indication of workaholism.

Taking your work home with you, fearing that a lack of hard work will get you fired, and letting your personal relationships suffer from the long hours you put in are three more indicators of workaholic behavior, WA says.

The concept of workaholism has always been controversial.

After all, who is to say you don't just love your job or are a hard worker?

"A workaholic is not the same as a person with a strong work ethic," says DR. ERIC DARR, Provost and Associate Professor of management at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. "A workaholic is someone who can't balance his or her life and tends to believe that everything is important all the time."

Despite the advent of such devices as the BLACKBERRY, cell phone and personal data assistant, which enable employees to work from anywhere, people should still feel able to make room in their lives for other things such as developing family and social relationships.

"Workaholism is unrelated to how people feel about their jobs. It's about their behavior," adds PETE MUDRACK, Assistant Professor of management at Kansas State University.

Mudrack says two major indications of workaholic behavior are spending time thinking of ways to do one's job better and getting involved in others' business.

"We always talk about continuous improvement, but no one is really required to spend time thinking about that," he says.

Mudrack defines workaholism as an unhealthy dependence on work that, like other addictions, can hurt one's relationships, personal life and even health.

Not only is workaholic behavior damaging to the individual who exhibits it, but it can be a destructive element in the office as well, Darr says.

If employees are unable to balance their professional and personal lives, the chances are likely that they won't be able to manage tasks and activities at work either.

Workaholics are so focused on finishing a project that they fail to strategize, prioritize or seek more creative solutions.

"Having an office full of workaholics is like having a yard full of moles," he says. "They start tunneling, but not in the same or best direction."

Are You Obsessed With Your Job?

[Who works a 40 work week anymore? I guess we're ALL workaholics.]