Re: Balancing life and work for workaholic ADDer

[Anonymous]

pete-puma: Have you had any luck with this? I understand your frustration… when you’re good at what you do, you showcase it or just take charge, and then people keep relying on you to do it, and they start adding on to your pile. What I had to do is start making a big deal about your after work plans and that you’re looking forward on relaxing and doing non-work things. The more people understand that you have a “life” and have definite plans that can’t be interrupted, they are going to think twice about calling you or at least not expect an immediate response from your email on your blackberry or iPhone.

As a co-owner of a small business, it used to be impossible for me to go on vacations (like you) without being called on. So, I started taking out of country vacations!! Mexico, Carribeans… and let them know I would be out of country for 7 days. I made sure my email had a auto-reply of “contact this person because I am unreachable until x date”. And guess what?? They survived without me for those 7 days…. but I’ve learned that we have to be strict about setting our boundries, because we can’t be the people that everyone unloads on simply so they can have a better personal life!!

Saying no is also a part of that. Teaching others how to do the same things that you and I do, also is a part of that. But letting go of some of the perfectionism is so important. I had to ask myself, if this thing is not done exactly how I would’ve done it, does it really matter? Is the report still valid? Is all the content still there? If it works, then I need to learn to let go a little more for my own sanity!! Hope you can to!

Let me know how it’s been going!

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