Guest Author - Meg Meyer

Whether you are overworked on a temporary basis or are a workaholic by nature or preoccupation, this type of always-on-the-clock lifestyle is hazardous to your relationships and your health.

Carla Sanchez runs a diner in Scottsdale, AZ. "I was suffering, physically. I wasn't sleeping right, eating right, and I was always stressed out. So my family was suffering, too," she says about bringing her work stress home with her.

The extreme stress that workaholics put themselves under and the chronic prioritizing of work tasks above other things like relaxation, sleep, and taking care of their physical bodies can put these super-workers at much greater risk for health problems than people that can leave work at work when the day is done. Anger, depression, job burnout, heart attack, stroke, and psychosomatic headaches and stomachaches are some of the ailments experts are attributing to people with a preoccupation with work.

"It's starting to show on me," says JJ McAuliffe about his fitness level, "when the weather is nice I bike and kayak, winter months - I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do." A pub owner in Racine, WI - JJ cites his physical health, appearance, and his home bear the brunt of his work-based lifestyle. "I come home, I'm tired, I'm beat, I just want to relax. I don't want to worry about anything. Even just sitting down on my sofa and watching TV and turning on my laptop checking Myspace sounds so much better than doing what I have to do which is clean my house."

According to Workaholics-Anonymous, recovery is possible. There are tools an literature suggesting how to bring more balance to your life on the organization's website.

Prioritizing is one of the tools W.A. suggests. Deciding what's most important (including rest) and doing that first. Roni McLeod, a photographer from Fargo, ND, agrees, "In order to balance out all that work, you need to learn how to schedule your day. I make a list of things I want to accomplish EVERY SINGLE DAY!! It helps you feel like you've accomplished stuff when you are able to cross it off of a list."

Managing your schedule can also help. Removing an activity from your schedule before adding in a new activity, and leaving more time than you think you need for a task, eliminates the need for the adrenaline rush and subsequent crash that many workaholics become unwittingly dependent on to get things done.

"Always try to make time to have at least a good quality hour with your family. Mine was always at dinner-time," says Roni. Scheduling in "play time" is one of W.A.'s Tools of Recovery. You could plan a date-night, or friend-night, in addition to taking time daily to talk to friends and family by phone, even when you're busy. Don't get so caught up in "not enough time" that you let time go by without any contact at all.

Scheduling in time for my health, home, and recharging my own energy are renewed priorities for me, as a result of this series on workaholism and preoccupation with work. While I love being a creative entrepreneur and my work style isn't going to change overnight, I can recognize the importance of making sure I'm healthy, happy, and at the top of my game. It is my sincere hope that you can, too.