Workaholism is a serious mental and physical disorder. If you suffer from workaholic tendencies, you may find yourself feeling stressed, burned out, unmotivated, tired, lacking in energy, and unable to relax even when on vacation or off duty. This can hurt your job performance as well as your non-work life.

Some people develop workaholic tendencies because they feel insecure and need to prove that their accomplishments are valid and worthy of praise. Others do it because they crave control over their lives and need to succeed in every area possible. The presence of other mental conditions along with workaholism can compound the problem; for example, depression can lead to workaholism and vice versa.

If you suffer from workaholic tendencies but cannot bring yourself to seek help or they are getting out of control, you may wish to follow some helpful tips for dealing with your condition. The following 40 steps provide an action plan to help you overcome workaholism.

1. Acknowledge that you have a problem and that your workaholic behavior isn’t healthy. If you’re not sure whether you’re a workaholic, ask yourself if any of the following things might be true:

• You don’t play enough or find enjoyment in the non-work aspects of life anymore.
• You have a constant stressful feeling that you don’t know how to get rid of.
• You frequently feel on edge, anxious, or irritable.
• You turn down offers for time off from work.
• When you take vacation time, your relaxation is short-lived and brief respites from work leave you feeling even more stressed and tired.
• You go to work even when you’re sick.
• Work is the first thing you think of in the morning and the last thing at night, as well as what fills your mind during any momentary lulls throughout your day.
• You’ve lost interest in other activities because all of your free time, attention, and energy go to work.
• You feel your job is more important than the social aspects of your life, even if you spend a lot of time working.
• You get annoyed when co-workers make plans after work because you can’t join them.
• Your relationships suffer because of too much time at work or related stress.
• You’ve begun to complain about work and your job during non-work-related activities.
• You don’t sleep well, or you’re constantly tired, even after long periods of rest.
• Your eating habits have changed because you either can’t find time to eat or are too busy working to maintain a normal diet.

2. Do what you can to eliminate the possibility that any mental health conditions might contribute to your workaholism. This might include:

• Please make an appointment with a doctor and explain your condition and his or her findings in detail.
• Seeking out information about workaholism from reputable websites, books, videos, and other sources.
• Attending a workaholism support group or working with a therapist, coach, or counselor.

3. Educate yourself about what workaholism is and how it manifests in the lives of people who suffer from the condition. There are many websites, books, and other resources to find information about workaholism and how to overcome it.

4. Recognize the specific behaviors you engage in associated with workaholic tendencies. For example, do you have to be the first one into the office every day or the last one out? Do you frequently check your email well after hours? Is it difficult for you to turn off your cell phone when not at work? Do you feel anxious or stressed out when you take a break from work?

5. Come up with a list of alternative behaviors that will make it easier for you to detach from your job and enjoy free time, relaxation, and non-work-related activities. You might try leaving the office later than usual, one day per week, or taking time off during the workday to enjoy a long lunch with co-workers.

6. Set goals for yourself, both short-term and long-term, so you have an idea of what you can aim to achieve in terms of your workaholic tendencies. For example, try setting specific, measurable goals, such as taking two weeknights off from work each week or spending at least two hours per day with family. If you’re interested in changing your behavior on a more permanent basis, set goals that are more long-term and involve breaking old habits and creating new ones that will lead to better ways of living. One goal might be to drive by your office building twice per day for one month without stopping.

7. Take time to relax and enjoy yourself regularly. If you’ve never taken this step before, try it out for one week to see how much better you feel after working less. Get enough sleep, so you feel rested, eat meals at normal intervals and find activities that help you unwind and take your mind off of work, such as reading a book or going for a walk.

8. Re-evaluate your career goals and how they might be contributing to your workaholic behavior. The chances are that there’s something else you’d rather do with your life besides spending all of your time at the workplace. Consider what might make you happy in your personal life and what you might want to do professionally.

9. Find ways to re-prioritize your life so working excessively doesn’t take over your entire world, especially if you’ve become accustomed to constant stimulation. Set time limits for each day where you stop doing work-related activities so you can focus on family, friendships, and other personal activities.

10. Look at other areas of your life and think about how you might be able to make changes in these parts of your world, so you’re not constantly trying to get ahead professionally. Consider spending more time with friends, getting involved in your community, or pursuing educational goals that will help you advance in the future. For example, you might take business classes at night or on the weekends to help you learn new skills that will make it easier for you to take your work life in a different direction.

11. Do something nice for yourself each day, whether it’s treating yourself to lunch or getting a manicure. These positive experiences can help counteract the negative feelings you get about your workaholic tendencies.

12. Find a support group or talk to other people who have similar problems with work addiction so you can share your experiences and learn from theirs. It’s also helpful to get the perspective of others in making changes because these individuals are often in a better position to help you feel motivated about what you are trying to accomplish.

13. Create your commandments for living, so you have a set of guidelines to help keep you on track when making changes in your life. For example, “I am not going to work this weekend except to do laundry” or “I will go outside every day for at least 15 minutes.”

14. Look for positive role models to help inspire how you want to live your life. You might find mentors within your organization or people whose careers you admire who have found a good work-life balance, such as the person who takes Fridays off each week without failing to go running with friends.

15. Get enough sleep every night, so you wake up feeling refreshed and focused. If you don’t get enough rest, the consequences of this can make it harder for you to change your workaholic behavior because fatigue makes it more difficult to prioritize anything other than getting some much-needed shut-eye.

16. Don’t beat yourself up! No one is perfect, and everyone struggles at times with finding the right balance between work and personal/family time, so it’s important not to get too down on yourself if you find that you’re out of step with the rest of the world.

17. Reward yourself for your progress and accomplishments toward becoming less of a workaholic, especially when things aren’t going well, and you feel like giving up altogether. For example, pick a special restaurant you’ve wanted to try or buy yourself a book that has been on your reading list for months.

18. Don’t get discouraged if you slip back into your old habits. The point of these changes is not to be perfect and undo all of the damage overnight; rather, it’s about taking one step at a time and recognizing that progress takes time.

19. Take the first step by asking yourself, “What do I want out of life and what can I do to make this happen?” The answer will help you begin the journey toward finding ways to live your life rather than constantly thinking about work 24/7. Think about how many things you could accomplish if you had free time, such as learning a new language or getting involved in your child’s school.

20. Realize that the key to achieving a balance between work and other activities is all about priorities and recognizing that it’s O.K. – and even healthy – for you to stop working every once in a while so you can refresh and renew your energy.

21. Be open to the possibility of making changes in your life, even if you feel like it wouldn’t be good for your career development or advancement. If you don’t take time to recharge yourself emotionally and physically, you will burn out more quickly than someone who has set aside some time each day for himself or herself.

22. Practice relaxation techniques such as meditation so you can learn to be more focused and relaxed when it comes time to go back to your desk or start handling those emails once again. You could also try yoga, taking a daily walk, listening to music, or cooking yourself a nice meal if you enjoy these activities.

23. Learn to recognize your emotions so you can better understand what’s behind them and why they arise. This can help you identify when one of your feelings is out of whack, such as feeling sad or angry for no apparent reason, because it could be a signal that something’s off in your life.

24. Share stories with others about how you are struggling with these issues so they can offer you support or advice. Ask them if they’ve dealt with anything like this themselves and what strategies worked for them to help set boundaries between their work life and personal/family time.

25. Start looking for ways to make your job more fulfilling; perhaps there are creative aspects of your position that you could emphasize more, or you could think about ways to switch careers altogether.

Conclusion

If you’ve found yourself in a workaholic zone, we hope this guide has given you some helpful tips. The last step of our guide is to make sure that your efforts are paying off and making strides at the office. There may be no such thing as “work-life balance,” but workaholics can succeed if you consider these 25 steps!