Hello. I am a work-aholic. Are you?

[Kyle Lacy]

It has been an interesting couple of years running my company, Brandswag. We have experienced the 70 to 90 hour weeks of constant hard work and it has been awesome! Now, I am beginning to find that I have become a work-aholic. I work constantly... all the time. I will even work when we do not have anything to do (there is always time for content and promotion right?).

What have you done to keep yourself from sliding over the edge? I love what I do but there comes a time when you can work too much. I would love some tips or thoughts on how to either combat this or help with taking 90 hours a week to more like 70.

Anyone?

[Cindy Hartman]

Right there with ya! And, yes, it's because we love what we do. When you have a passion for what you do, it's not work any more. Well....kinda. The balance is tough, and I struggle with it daily, too. Because I WANT to be doing what I'm doing. A few things I do/have done are: schedule a 'meeting' with yourself a few times a week. It can be for just an hour or a block of time. The key, then, is to honor that meeting as you would a meeting with a customer. DO NOT CANCEL. You choose what the 'meeting' is, but it CANNOT be work-related. Since I'm home-based, I close the door to the office with a "closed" sign on it. Sometimes I ignore the sign, walk in and the computer is shut down and the keyboard turned upside down. (Yes, it takes that extreme sometimes.)

Get another work-aholic as a time-out buddy and schedule time with them, or have them hold you accountable to your desire to get away from it.

Many of us "suffer" from this - but it's not suffering when you're enjoying it. How do you make yourself stop doing what you WANT to do? Remember the value of balance and the fact that when renewed, refreshed and energized, great things happen.

Gotta run...Twitter is calling me!

[Nila Nealy]

I had kids. With needs. Now I can't do the long hours on a consistent basis. I just can't. My biggest issue now is that I pour my energy almost exclusively into working and parenting. I find little time to expand my mind or take care of my health. I'm working on it.

What I've learned over the years (and through 13+ years of business ownership) is that I have to constantly assess and adjust. Between the world's unpredictability and my own creative nature, tightly compartmentalizing parts of my life, being rigid and rule-bound, and trying to live by others' rules just doesn't work. For me.

What does work is finding just a little bit of time (sometimes just a minute or two) to check in with my own body, mind and heart. I take a few deep breaths, get past the mental chatter and become mindful of what I'm feeling. All the wisdom in the world is in that still place.

One of my favorite quotes is from Richard Branson: "I don't think of work as work and play as play. It's all living."

[Nila Nealy]

Okay, so I clearly replied more about my own experience and didn't likely offer a thing that is helpful to you in your life right now.

Have you tried really tracking how you spend all of your time? I've heard it called a time diary. You do this for a week or two and then analyze it. Look for low-value expenditures. Either delegate those things or eliminate them all together. You get the picture.

Have you read the book "The Success Principles" by Jack Canfield? There are some very good suggestions and exercises in that book that help with this kind of thing. I don't have them with me know, but I'm pretty sure I have a few of those I completed that were real eye openers and helped me change how I see and use time and energy.

And...I'm happy to sit with coffee/tea and brainstorm some ideas with you. You, too, Nicki. Or anyone else for that matter. Just send me a message and we'll make it happen.

[Justin Bryant]

Vacation? Don't take your iPhone or laptop! Can you you handle it?

[lesliepagel]

Thought this recent twitter post from @KristinaEvey might help: "Someone recently told me - Prioritize your work, then work your priorities. Simple advice, but very true!"