Table of Contents
How to spot a Workaholic
What kind of Workaholic are you?
Internet Addiction
How to spot a Workaholic
Recently Family Therapy Networker journal published a Work Addiction Risk Test (or WART) developed by Bryan Robinson using these rating scales:
1 (never true)
2 (sometimes true)
3 (often true)
4 (always true).
After you've responded to all 25 statements, add the numbers for your total score. The higher your score (highest possible is 100), the more likely you are to be a workaholic. The lower your score (lowest possible is 25), the less likely you are to be a workaholic.
- I prefer to do most things rather than ask for help.
- I get impatient when I have to wait for someone else or when something takes too long.
- I seem to be in a hurry and racing against the clock.
- I get irritated when I am interrupted while I am in the middle of something.
- I stay busy and keep many irons in the fire.
- I find myself doing two or three things at one time.
- I over-commit myself by biting off more than I can chew.
- I feel guilty when I am not working on something.
- It's important that I see the concrete results of what I do.
- I am more interested in the final result of my work than in the process.
- Things just never seem to move fast enough or get done fast enough for me.
- I lose my temper when things don't go my way or work out to suite me.
- I ask the same question over again without realizing it, after I've already been given the answer once.
- I spend a lot of time mentally planning and thinking about future events while tuning out the here and now.
- I find myself continuing to work after my fellow students have called it quits.
- I get angry when people don't meet my standards of perfection.
- I get upset when I am in situations where I cannot be in control.
- I tend to put myself under pressure from self-imposed deadlines when I work.
- It is hard for me to relax when I'm not working.
- I spend more time working than socializing with friends or on hobbies or leisure activities.
- I dive into projects to get a head start before all the phases have been finalized.
- I get upset with myself for making even the smallest mistake.
- I put more thought, time and energy into my work than I do into my relationships with loved ones and friends.
- I forget, ignore or minimize celebrations, such as birthdays, reunions, anniversaries or holidays.
- I make important decisions before I have all the facts and have a chance to think them through.
From Chained to the Desk by Bryan Robinson
All workaholics work too much, but not all workaholics act alike.
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What kind of workaholic are you?
Bryan Robinson in his book Chained to the Desk identifies four workaholic styles. Each style expresses a different set of emotional and cognitive needs, vulnerabilities, fears, and assumptions. Some people use only one style, while others mix and match; blend and alternate among them.
- Bulimic Workaholic Style: The Bulimic Workaholic has to do it perfectly or not at all. This style cycles around procrastination, work binges and exhaustion. Bulimic workaholics have a hard time getting started because they fear they might not do it perfectly. In this phase they obsess about their work while berating themselves for not moving on it. Then to mute their self-criticism they binge in an adrenaline-fueled panic to get it done and then collapse exhausted by all they've done. Then the cycle starts again.
- Relentless Workaholic Style: This group is very driven and has to have all their work finished yesterday. They get a kick from tight deadlines and start things too soon rather than too late. Impulsivity is the key here and a tendency to take on too much. They can't say "no," delegate, set priorities, or put things on the back burner. They lack attention to detail and work too fast for careful thought or reflection.
- Attention-Deficit Workaholic Style: The adrenaline and pressure of an overwhelming workload is used to keep them focused. They live on the brink of chaos and get high from the rush of new ideas. They start a lot of things but never finish because they are easily bored with follow through. They like to tap on tables, twiddle their thumbs, fidget or pace around. They start a lot of projects, do them carelessly and drop things because they're bored.
- Savoring Workaholic Style: This is the overly scrupulous, slow and methodical style where the workaholic has trouble letting go of work and can't tell when the job is done. Beneath this is the fear that it's never good enough. So the prolong and create additional work to keep the project going and have great difficulty completing their work and starting a new project.
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Internet Addiction
Excessive Internet use or "Internet Dependence" is an addiction found in a small percentage of students, usually males, who spend more time on-line than they do sleeping, studying, or socializing and who put their academic career in jeopardy. Non-addicted students spend on average about 70 minutes a day logged-on. Internet junkies miss meals, reduce their sleep time, and miss appointments and engage in other forms of poor time management rather than respond to personal and social offline needs. These addicts use the Internet to make themselves feel better when they feel sad, overwhelmed, or lonely.
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