- Are you more drawn to your work or activity than close relationships, rest, etc.?
- Are there times when you are motivated and push through tasks when you don’t even want to and other times when you procrastinate and avoid them when you would prefer to get things done?
- Do you take work with you to bed? On weekends? On vacation?
- Are you more comfortable talking about your work than other topics?
- Do you pull all-nighters?
- Do you resent your work or the people at your workplace for imposing so many pressures on you?
- Do you avoid intimacy with others and/or yourself?
- Do you resist rest when tired and use stimulants to stay awake longer?
- Do you take on extra work or volunteer commitments because you are concerned that things won’t otherwise get done?
- Do you regularly underestimate how long something will take and then rush to complete it?
- Do you immerse yourself in activities to change how you feel or avoid grief, anxiety, and shame?
- Do you get impatient with people who have other priorities besides work?
- Are you afraid that if you don’t work hard all the time, you will lose your job or be a failure?
- Do you fear success, failure, criticism, burnout, financial insecurity, or not having enough time?
- Do you try to multitask to get more done?
- Do you get irritated when people ask you to stop doing what you’re doing in order to do something else?
- Have your long hours caused injury to your health or relationships?
- Do you think about work or other tasks while driving, conversing, falling asleep, or sleeping?
- Do you feel agitated when you are idle and/or hopeless that you’ll ever find balance?
- Do you feel like a slave to your email, texts, or other technology?
Three or more positive answers indicate that there may be a problem with workaholism. After carefully considering the above questions, and perhaps even discussing them with family and friends, the issues may become more apparent. Most of us were slow to fully comprehend the extent of the damage of our longtime behaviors. Recovery began when we identified our destructive patterns as part of a powerful addiction beyond our conscious control. Awareness and acceptance open the door to possible solutions.
(Workaholics Anonymous Book of Recovery, 2nd ed., 2015, pp. 2-3)