Whilst some of the greatest discoveries ever made have been the byproduct of workaholics there are also many who simply pursue meaningless targets, working through the night because they have the false notion that it is important.

They live in a fantasyland, frequently having their sleep disrupted by work thoughts and often work weekends as they have so little outside interests. If they are in a management position, they are dangerous, as they will suck their staff into the vortex of their meaningless pursuits.  They can be the worst managers but the best talkers.

There is only one thing certain in life and that is our death. What would you like your obituary column to read like? Will all the meaningless deadlines that drove us, those reports that we worked on a 3am that nobody read mean that at our funeral there will be an outpouring of respect?

Many of us are task driven. We are driven to succeed no matter how stupid or meaningless the target is. We feel we will get a great deal of satisfaction from it and yet, on completion, were we not disappointed by the fleeting moment of pleasure?

Here are five cures if you are a workaholic.

  1. Look at deadlines carefully before committing to them.  Are they going to make a difference? Are they connected with the organization’s critical success factors? Would we celebrate the achievement?   For surely if you would not celebrate the accomplishment, it cannot be that important.
  2. Ensure your team has regular team meetings in a local café. When running a survey company which was tedious work, we made life bearable by having café sessions twice a day.  We were away from our prison and amongst the artistic crowd in a funky café.
  3. Avoid working through lunch.  All that working through lunch signals is that you are not on top of things, or worst lack perspective. You need a break in times when you feel that is the last thing you can afford to do. Breaks give you a clearer perspective on the issue at hand. Why not schedule three lunches with people you need either to work better with or should network with. Yes, we all may think we are heroes working nonstop for 14 hours, whereas in reality, we are going nowhere quickly. Always take breaks.
  4. Take special care of your high performing staff.  These driven staff will at some point burn-out, and then you get the surprise resignation.  Jack Welch when running General Electric extracted every bit of value out of staff and managers. But at the same time would enable staff who had already collected a pile of “I owe you” chits, to take time out to recover their work life balance before pressing on.
  5. Nurture a safe haven. Schedule more time for finding and nurturing relationships, hobbies and sports that will make your life more meaningful. This is particularly important when you are faced with redundancy.  It happened to Sir Winston Churchill on three occasions. Each time he cocooned himself at Chartwell house,

I went to the funeral of my GP.  He was no ordinary G.P., as 600 attendees at his funeral will attest.  He helped others.  So, the next time a deadline comes up make sure it is going to mean something.  Otherwise it is far better to go home earlier and visit that elderly neighbour or help charge someone’s car battery.  It is these gifts of time that will be remembered, that will make your life richer and more meaningful.

  1. Buy my working guide and accompanying E-Templates

Look inside the working guide

Written by international writer, David Parmenter. This working guide will transform the lives of you and your team through the adoption of practices your peers have used successfully who come from top performing teams around the world.

This working guide covers:

  • The Good News- You Have More Time Than You Think
  • First Things First
  • Why You Should Eat a Frog Every Morning
  • Importance of Abandonment at Home and at Work
  • Have Two, Two-Hour Blocks of Time Every Day
  • Balancing Customers’ Needs with Your Effective Time Management
  • 15 Second Rule for Short Term “To Do” Actions
  • Adopt the Golden Rules for Handling Emails
  • Move to a Stand-Up Desk with Three Screens
  • Culling Your Time Spent in Meetings
  • Adopting Scrum Stand-Up Project Meetings
  • Adopt “Action Meetings” Methods
  • Blue Sky Fridays -Working from Home
  • Suggested rules for a blue-sky Friday
  • Working from home
  • Have a Meditation Walk During the Day
  • To Decide or Not to Decide
  • Advice from The Past
  • Frame Your Decisions
  • Automate as Many Decisions as Possible
  • Sleep and Decision Making
  • Why the Law of Attraction Can Make You More Time Efficient
  • Knowing Which Road, You Are Travelling on Will Save You Time
  • Next Steps

Click here to purchase working guide at sale price of USD$9.90 discounted from USD$40.00

[i] Stephen Covey “First Things First”, Free Press; Reprint edition, 1996[/fusion_text]