Work is something we cannot complain about, much less in a time when everything seems to be so uncertain. Having a salary is a blessing, and we should do everything we can to keep it (or increase it).
However, it is one thing to be a professional, hard-working and responsible person who does everything that corresponds to him, and another is to work excessively, putting at risk our physical and mental health, our social relationships and even the quality of our work.
This may be your case, so you might be interested in seeing what they are. the 10 signs that you are working too much and, if you meet them, open your eyes and seriously consider taking a break.
10 Signs You’re Working Too Much (and Their Causes)
The life of a worker is not a bed of roses. Although we may like our work a lot, it is true that sometimes we have to do more than we had planned and we do not have the freedom to complain. At the end of the day, seeing how the current situation is, having a job is almost a gift from heaven and complaining about having a salary could well be classified as a first world problem.
However, it often happens that our job absorbs us, taking away hours to dedicate ourselves to doing more pleasant activities such as being with family, friends or dedicating ourselves to our care and leisure. Having extra hours from time to time is usually a bad thing to swallow but if it only happens a couple of times a month or, at most, a week, it is something we can handle quite well.
Unfortunately, many people have the problem that their tasks pile up, they begin to take care of obligations that do not correspond to them, and their boss begins to abuse them by sending them more workload than their share. As a consequence of all this, the workers’ health begins to suffer and their social life is also damaged.
But despite this, Sometimes workers themselves find it difficult to know that they are working too hard Whether motivated by the idea that the harder they work, the more efficient they are or that it is totally normal to have to frequently work overtime, many people are unable to see that they are in a situation that poses a problem for their social and personal lives.. So that this does not happen to you, below we are going to see 10 signs that you are working too much.
1. You feel like you never have time for yourself
It is common that, when you work too much, you feel like you have less time for yourself. This usually happens without you realizing it at first, either because you are very committed to your work or because you use it as a refuge from the problems in your life.
However, As time goes by, you make commitments that go beyond what corresponds to you , working overtime. It’s that moment when you see that you don’t have time for yourself, or to spend it with family, friends, dedicate it to leisure or even relieve yourself.
2. You are more irritable and moody
One of the signs that you are working too hard is that you have become irritable. Tiredness, stress, the frustration of not being able to enjoy your free time and the stress of seeing a ton of pending reports do not sit well with anyone. Added to the bad mood, to all this is added pathosity, since The worse our mood, the worse our efficiency and care when it comes to working
3. You can’t relax
You may have a small window of time in your work schedule where you can dedicate yourself to yourself. However, you are so stressed and worried about how much you have to do that you are unable to relax, as if you were on the go all the time, preparing for the next batch of reports to write.
This is not only a problem that manifests itself during your breaks in the office, but also outside of working hours You get home and, even though you try to leave your mind blank, rest on the couch or fall asleep comfortably in your bed, you are not able to rest at all. You have your button on “on” and there is no way to turn it “off”.
Another sign that you are working too much is that you wake up tired, even after getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep. This is common when you have such a heavy workload that even when you are asleep you are tense and, of course, this affects the quality of sleep.
In other cases it has more to do with the time you go to sleep, the result of having many pending tasks that make you stay up late working. Going to sleep at 10pm is not the same as going to sleep at 2am. No matter how many hours we manage to sleep, the body is not made for us to go to bed so late.
5. Your body hurts
You are so stressed that Not only are you in a bad mood and notice how you are emotionally exhausted, but your body is also affected physically Your back, neck and joints hurt, and you don’t really know why, but from the outside, it’s easy to know why your body hurts so much: you have such a workload that your stress and anxiety are psychosomatized into physical discomfort.
But it’s not just your muscles and joints that hurt. It is common that as a result of working too much you notice gastrointestinal symptoms such as indigestion and heartburn, as well as headaches, migraines and dizziness. And while it’s not certain that you’re going to have a heart attack, you notice that it’s pumping so hard from stress that you’re afraid it’s going to explode in your chest.
6. No trace of fun in your life
The worker absorbed by his work is a being who no longer knows what fun means You do so many things that, when you finish them, you see that it is too late and you no longer have time to make plans with your family or friends or to have fun on your own, whether reading a book, watching television or playing video games..
Your life is getting boring. It’s all about working, working, working and you leave aside hobbies and other forms of leisure that are what keep you alive. You are working too much when your life becomes one-dimensional and flat, simple and tedious.
7. Your topic of conversation is work
In direct relation to the previous point, since all you do is work and more work You have absolutely no topic to talk about anymore You may defend yourself quite well in your office by telling a joke to your colleague about something in a report or project, but that work humor has no meaning outside of your workplace. For your friends, partner, children and other acquaintances, you have become monothematic.
8. You feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day
Whether because your bosses have put too much workload on you or because you have simply organized yourself a little poorly, you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to finish your obligations
Overtime has become a regular part of your job and, despite the fact that you should talk to someone to take off so much workload, which is already bordering on abusive, you prefer to continue doing everything that is assigned to you, even if it causes you stress when you see It’s taking longer than you thought.
9. Your to-do list keeps growing
Regardless of whether you are an organized person or not, accepting everything that is assigned to you at work makes your to-do list continue to grow, logically. At the beginning of the work day everything seems attainable, like you will be able to do all the obligations and tasks that you are committing to do.
Then the hours go by and you discover that it’s humanly impossible to finish everything on your to-do list in one day, so you leave something for the next day. The problem is that they will give you tasks again, both mandatory and extra, making the pile of tasks that was already large before now even larger. If this doesn’t make you see that you work too hard, I don’t know what will make you see…
Related article: “How to better manage time at work: 12 tips (and what to avoid)”
10. You feel like you’ll never catch up
Finally, a sign that you are working too much is that you feel like you will never catch up, Even though you dedicate many extra hours to your job, you sacrifice part of your rest you are stressed and you notice how you do many things every day.
Added to all the previous points, this can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and makes you understand that you need a break or even ask your boss to slow down and give us less work. You may even urgently need a vacation, because not only do you have too much work, but if you don’t regain your strength you will hardly be able to catch up.
