Do you have that endless desire to be at work, whether you love your job or not? Perhaps your workplace culture is the expectation of dropping your life and prioritising the business at all times. Working all the time is the culture of our society that connects your self-worth and value to a pay package. Read on to discover how to unpack these 2 aspects and simple actionable steps that you can take. 

Business and technology are only reflections of the state of our human mental state. We are so busy in the mind that we do fear the quiet and silence that is available within. From this, we have created two monsters in our world - workplace culture and technology. 

Your Workplace Culture

Many businesses require that you reply to your emails 24/7 and even on holiday. This unhealthy and demanding expectation has become a norm since smartphones and working from home became a more ordinary way of operating. It is hard to 'switch off' when your office is now your dining table or your personal calls can also be your work calls. 

Your well-being may be affected by constantly being 'on' for your work. This increases your risk for stress-related illnesses which go beyond mental health and can include physical issues e.g. irritable bowel syndrome. Seek professional medical support to provide evidence of your workplace needs and request reasonable adjustments to your work environment. This is different from asking for a better mouse or chair with repetitive strain injury or back problems. 

It may seem scary that you could lose your job for 'being difficult' but without pushback for your well-being, business culture will not change and the pursuit of workaholism will perpetuate. Your courage to provide boundaries is a business's investment in the longevity of your service with them. If you show commitment and willingness to do your job, your health will be respected and job-protected. 

Tips to Reduce Cultural Impact on Your Wellbeing

1. Ask for a separate phone handset for your job and do not take it on holiday.
2. Keep your work emails in a separate app on your phone.
3. Turn notifications on your phone for work contacts off.
4. Use the 'Do Not Disturb' function on your phone for at least 2 hours in the morning and evening to protect your bedtime. 
5. Ask your friends and family to use another app for texts and calls so that you can ensure that you speak with them when not at work. 
6. Get a medical certificate for workplace reasonable adjustments e.g. no out-of-office-hours contact to ensure your wellbeing.

If your employer does not support you with these changes, then it is time to move on. Take the rest and trust that if you truly take care of your wellbeing you will be provided for by the universe. 

Your Own Self-Worth Addiction to Avoid Inner Silence

Money does not need to be your motivation to fall into this addictive behaviour, it usually is self-worth. This is understandable when we are taught that our worth is connected to qualifications, pay packets and roles in society. 

Low self-worth and esteem are connected to an over-identification with roles, tasks or colleagues and helping them. This includes when you own your business and the belief that it cannot function without you. You run around doing jobs to make yourself feel valuable and worthy of your life.

Are these some of your excuses for overworking:

• Nobody else can do the work that I do. 
• If I do not do the work it does not get done. 
• Others need me to help them as they cannot do it alone. 
• The business will fall over without me. 
• My role/ job is irreplaceable or essential. 

However, the reality is that it can be anything that perpetuates the addictive behaviour to avoid or distract from the silence when you are doing nothing. Sitting in the discomfort of acknowledging your true self, which only comes from being still in silence, is what reveals where you avoid or escape. 

You may find that this is around: 

• Your worthiness for good health and wellbeing in your life. 
• Your worthiness for relaxation, rest and revitalising energy. 
• Your health is worth more than any money, role or achievement that you will ever experience in your life. 

The truth is that we all fear silence and being still because you are worthy of simply being alive without proving anything through doing. Each moment that you are alive is a moment to be fully present and intimate with what is happening - for that is the true value of your life - your consciousness at the moment. This intimate depth is scary for many of us, so we get busy and overworked.

What else can you do to shift away from Workaholism?

The approach that supports my clients in revealing their major shift from overwork into clarity is using the 'Yamas and Niyamas' worksheet In the Luminous Life program. We use this to set up your lighter life shift in your initial 2 sessions and then break out the simple life approaches unique to you to realise that integration of change that is gentle, kind and joyful. 

Step away from workaholism (and maybe the job) and into greater intimacy with the present moment, to enjoy a richer life.