I was never much of a workaholic. Actually, I was the complete opposite. But I see just how much being one can effect your chances of a date or ever getting a relationship with someone. My brother is a workaholic, mainly started due to too many bills he had to pay off. He would work long and then picked up a second job, he now feels that after getting a very good paying new job to replace one, he shouldn’t let go of his second. But he doesn’t need the second. His mind is bent on keeping both jobs because that’s what kept him from debt so long ago. Now hes got extra money but no free time to spend it. And most importantly, he wants a girl but he blames his jobs for giving him no time to get one. See what I’m saying here? Workaholics need to work, but they aren’t robots, they want a partner as well. At least most of the time. I composed a list of tips for those that are workaholics, assuming you aren’t working and reading this. Or perhaps you know someone that is.
1. Find out!
There are many forms of ‘aholics’. You got to figure out if you’re a workaholic or not. If you’re really one chances are you’re putting aside your friends, family and possible dates in favor of work. As in putting work before them. Or, as my brother, work long hours? Possibly two jobs? Claim you need to and you need them both to survive when you’re actually pretty well off with just one, but don’t want to admit it? Perhaps it’s your work place, does your boss expect you to be a super worker? Do your co-workers expect you to do all the work THEY should be? Perhaps you feel you need to keep busy to fill in some void that has grown in your life? First step to correcting yourself would be to admit that you are a workaholic. Second would be to address the issue. Perhaps find a new better paying job or a same paying but less stressful job. Or just learn to say ‘no’ when it’s needed.
2. Get your priorities straight.
The truth is, when someone tells you that they are too busy to give you a call, most the time they are really just telling you that they don’t really have a priority to call you or to keep contact. Now yes, that seems rather rude, but as we all get older our lives get busier and if they don’t want to call you they don’t want to. But what I find funny is that people will use work as an excuse to avoid a date. If you are looking for a date, don’t hide behind your job. If you are one that does just that, how is it that you find yourself lacking time when you can pull something like that? Instead of hiding behind work, use that free time to actually date. Relax and do something fun, which dates tend to be if done right. Now, yes, I understand that sometimes you’ll get called in on an emergency, but remember that you control your life, not your boss or coworkers or anyone else. You do. So set your priorities straight.
3. Make sure you’re paying attention to your date when you are with them!
Even with a high-end demanding job that want’s you to live and breath work, you need to balance yourself out. You NEED time away from work. So once you are with your date you need to pay attention. Don’t think about work, live with the present at the moment. It’s just you and your date so keep work out of your head and out of conversation, unless your date asks about it. You GOT to relax on your date. Once you are done and you go back to work the next day or later that day, take time out of your work time to give them a call to let them know what you thought or that you’re thinking about them. Yeah, communicate during work too. It’s what couples do, talk. It will pay off. It’s worth it.
4. Learn to tell your workplace ‘no’.
If you are single, which you probably are if you are reading this, then you probably noticed by now that the married ones with kids tend to get out of work or extra work more often then not. That would be because they got to get their kids from daycare. Cook for their family or maybe due to a family emergency. So why is it you get stuck with the extra work? Because you don’t no how to say no. Yes, the parents have great reasons, but that doesn’t mean the other single can get away all the time too! Learn to decline the offer of staying longer, and you WILL have more free time.
5. Start growing a life outside work.
Think of it this way, to figure out whether you need to or not. If a majority of your friends happen to be the people you work with, you need to get out! You need to spend time on hobbies, or if you really been spending too much time in the office, finding a hobby. If you hang out with people not from your work place you will really reach out to new things and people. And it will keep off talking about work all the time. And when you are out doing a hobby or talking to other people you may find someone that catches your eye, or even better, you may catch the eye of someone else.
