As a woman entrepreneur, you need to oversee things and answer to customers practically on a 24-hour basis. You often find yourself working at various times and places!
Time to Enjoy Life
How can you find freedom and respect your natural rhythms when you lead this kind of lifestyle? It may be challenging, but you need to find some time to get some rest and resume work with renewed strength. Otherwise, you may end up being a workaholic, a person working compulsively. Instead of having more freedom and being in control, you may end up feeling that you don’t have time to enjoy life.
Why You Shouldn’t Be a Workaholic
In the beginning, workaholics may be experiencing a productivity boost; but with the passage of time, their productivity slumps, and relationships start falling apart; in fact, studies show that workaholics are 40% more likely to get divorced; and their children are inclined to have more anxiety or depression. The health consequences can be deleterious. Even premature deaths have been reported as a consequence of compulsive work.
Working over 50 hours per week can lead to a series of problems. Work-related stress causes the release of adrenaline, cortisol, and other physically harmful hormones. When your stress-response is activated due to professional concerns, you experience digestion problems, headaches, weight issues, bad temper, and may resort to excessive drinking as a form of stress alleviation. Your rest and sleep patterns are negatively affected; your mental capacities are weakened. Not a very pretty picture, is it?
Recognize the Symptoms
If you suspect that you may be a workaholic, you need to recognize the symptoms:
- You habitually work longer hours than those originally planned.
- You can’t stop thinking about work.
- You miss important social events.
- You often suffer from fatigue.
- Others have suggested that you work less, but you ignore their advice.
- You focus on being busy instead of being productive.
- You have difficulty cooperating with others.
- You are reluctant to assign tasks to others through lack of trust.
- You show poor organizational skills.
- You don’t sleep enough.
Restorative Strategies
You need to develop strategies that will allow you to stop feeling overwhelmed. The time off work allows you to gain peace of mind, reconnect to who you are, your vision, and reflect on your long-term life goals. Studies suggest that habitual breaks, time devoted to relaxation, and activities that promote wellness lead to increased productivity. So you need to:
- devise a flexible plan so that you perform well without overworking;
- establish boundaries;
- prioritize;
- delegate;
- do one thing at a time; and
- distinguish between urgent, important, and less important tasks.
If you are a woman entrepreneur looking for more in-depth understanding of strategies for treating your workaholic tendencies, you can connect here: http://goo.gl/Dxb5Ei.
