# Am I a workaholic?



## Malek (Oct 4, 2012)

On my days off, Sunday and Tuesday, all I do is think about how unproductive I am staying home here and being bored. I'd search for new hobbies, yet I've grown tired of finding the motivation to do even that!

Lately I've been catching myself constantly thinking and talking about work too much, it's annoying, even to me. I don't want to become one of those boring coworkers in the break room that have nothing to chat about aside from work and complaining about horrible customers, yet I think that's what I'm slowly becoming. I find it rather disheartening to realize that this is one of my possible fates...

I'm not even anything special. I'm a loser but I excel at working hard, or so I'm told, so I cling to that, make it my own. I feel like I'm a "mudder" from that show Firefly, as pathetic and sad as that sounds.


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## SoloArtist (Jun 11, 2013)

This is probably a good thing, as long as you follow through with your ambitions and thoughts/planning. 

A big problem is over analysis, over thinking, and thus not ever getting anything done. Some people (like me) will spend all day thinking about what to do, and how to do it most efficiently, but then the day is over. Don't get into this habit, do short term planning over the next hour instead (spend 5 minutes to plan your next hour, then just start). 

I would rather be the person that gets things done, rather than me. I have great ideas and strategies for doing things, and thus I am able to work efficiently, but I never seem to actually get there. Obviously, this hurts a lot in the workplace and is something I need to work on, although I'm not terrible at it I could be better at my time management. Another example is my music. I understand the whole load of music theory, how to read/write music, how to record many different instruments to a near professional level, I've developed and written countless lesson plans for teaching music, am near virtuoso status at my main instrument, etc -- but I never actually get it done. I don't have a band, or a teaching studio. I've only written a small handful of songs in the past 2-3 years. This is a serious problem, for all the time (countless hours...) I've devoted to this pursuit, I have nothing to show for it, no career in it, etc.

If you have good time management and you are driven to work hard, then don't think about it too much, just DO IT. This is pretty much unarguably a good thing, everyone likes someone who can get stuff done. Even if the end quality isn't the best, even if it took you a long time -- just GET IT DONE! There are many people out there that wished they were this motivated. This would be a good way to gain more responsibilities in a job and get promotions, raises, and ultimately have a higher self esteem and be more financially sound.

tl;dr: It's a good thing to be the guy who wakes up at 6AM on a Sunday to pursue his work with vigor. Not many people are that good at life, but wish they were. They usually will not earn as much as you, or be as happy in the long run (not that those 2 things are related).


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## firestar (Jun 27, 2009)

I also wonder if I'm a workaholic sometimes. I tend to put effort into my job and when I'm with my coworkers, it's easier for me to talk with them about work.

But I don't think I'm a true workaholic because my mother was one. When I was growing up, she never ate dinner with us because she always worked late. Now, when you try to talk with her, she'll be on her blackberry constantly, responding to work e-mails even when she's at home. I resented her a lot when I was a child because I felt like I was a burden on her and that she preferred being at work to spending time with me. 

I like my job. I like talking about work. But I don't neglect other parts of my life as a result. When I neglect to do something, it's not because of work but because of my SA. I think that's an important difference.


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