UNITED STATES—Are you a workaholic? That person who seems to always have something that needs to be done in the workplace, no matter how much you aim to pull yourself away from the chaos. Well point that finger in this direction because I’m one of those individuals as well. However, it’s not something I’m proud to admit.
With the holiday season busy upon us, many people will really see themselves maxed out with long work hours and a bevy of chaos that will not be so easy to describe in words. I mean I’m never a fan of having to work holidays, but it happens. So many of us get stuck working Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and a host of other holidays that so many others ALWAYS have off.
Pause. It’s time for a break. We all get that instinct that tells us to slow down even though our brain is saying you can keep going. Is it frustrating to hear that? Without a doubt, but at the same time your body reacts in ways to slow you down even when you’re not willing to admit it. For example, rarely do I catch a cold, and when I do it only happens once a year, but it’s massive in nature. Yeah, I don’t get a slight cold, I get full-blown sick. I’m irritable, grouchy and just in a bad mood overall.
I’ve come to realize that when I do indeed get sick it’s God’s way of telling me to slow down a bit, relax; all will be fine even when you suspect that it may not be. This is something that I’ve come to accept. You can’t always fight against the powers that be, even if your gut is telling you that you have all the energy in the world.
Ever since I was a pre-teen I have ALWAYS worked on the weekends. I mean I don’t really know what it’s like to sleep in on a Saturday or to chillax on a Sunday. On any given day I’d absolutely work on a Sunday if I have to, but Saturday, not a chance. I hate, let me repeat HATE working Saturdays. So much to the point, when the opportunity arose at my current place of employment to never have to work a Saturday again I jumped at the opportunity.
Saturday has become my work free day. What does that mean? No emails, no computers, no telephone, no anything. I completely remove myself from work and immerse myself in other activities to relax. I used to be so tempted to check emails on Saturday because of that fear of missing something. Now, nope, if someone wanted to alert me of something pertinent that email should have come Friday night.
That worry bot syndrome I used to have is gone. It is what it is and I’ll take care of the issue on the next day that I return to work, but no longer will I sacrifice the 1-day of the week that I get off to entertain doing more work when I’ve already done a pile of things the rest of the week, a day away from the office or work is not going to result in the end of the world. That is something it took my years to discover, but I’m so happy to have learned it. Everyone deserves time for a break, even us workaholics who never seem to rest.
