I often get gasps of “how do you do it?” with “don’t you think that’s a bit too much?” when people find out the full extent of what I do workwise…as if I’m a relentless workaholic or something.

And I often look at them thinking many things depending on what their own circumstances (i.e. if they are a working parent themselves, and if they have a skill or a passion I know they could be making an extra income from, but they can’t be bothered to…).

Working hard is great – honestly. It is, it gives you a sense of purpose, and achievement, and when done correctly, you’ll often find that your career, or business (or both), and even your family life can reap some fantastic rewards.

But there comes a time when working too hard makes you fall into a new domain – you become a workaholic.

This is a behaviour pattern, which can be very destructive and can lead to many challenges in our personal, professional, and social life.

Working from home makes it hard to know if you’re a workaholic

If you work from home and are a workaholic then the lines between working hard and being a workaholic can be very blurred – especially when you are working around your family commitments (school run etc), and can’t do a full day of say 9am to 5pm, where you can see that you are working extra hours very clearly.

It can be very easy to work until the early hours every day and not realise that you are neglecting your family until the strains start to show.

Working hard in the workplace is good for your job as well as for your future growth. Everyone has to work hard and achieve their professional goals on time.

But if you work every evening, at weekends and holidays “ALL THE TIME” (as your children or spouse may put it) then it could be a tell-tale sign that you’re a workaholic.

How to spot the signs that you are a workaholic

• It has been a year since you went on holiday with your family (an it’s not even that you can’t afford to go financially!) but you can’t even find the time to organise a short trip with your family – you are a workaholic
• You can’t remember the last get-together you had with your close friends or family and you have no plans in near future to do so (and not because you have fallen out) – you are a workaholic
• You children ask you why you are having dinner with them at the dinner table, when you always leave them to eat on their own while you fire off some “important emails” – you are a workaholic
• You only speak to your spouse during the morning rush because that’s the only time when you are not working – you are a workaholic
• You only communicate with your spouse via email – you are a workaholic
• Your friends and relatives can only get a response from you if they Facebook you or tweet you because you have this on your phone for business purposes – you are a workaholic
• Ask yourself if you have done any thing for yourself apart from your work in the past year. If you have only been to the salon to get your hair done, or your nails done etc before an important meeting then that doesn’t count. If you have only been on a shopping spree to update your work wardrobe then that doesn’t count. Having acupuncture for RSI (repetitive strain injury) so you can carry on typing pain-free does not count, either! If you can’t think of anything, then you are a workaholic

This world is very challenging and if you are running home-based internet business then it provides more challenges to you as you are alone and you have to earn money for your family which results more hard work and less time to your family members, and friends.

But you need to balance your work with your family members and your friends so that you enjoy every part of your life otherwise your life as a workaholic could start to crumble around you.