Did you know, there are 4 different types of workaholics?

Apparently, not all workaholics are the same. I used to hold the stereotypical idea of what a workaholic is and so I didn’t even think that people may be workaholics in many different ways.

Then I read ‘’Chained to the desk’’ by Bryan Robinson PhD — who did outline the different types of workaholics and how we can differentiate them and I understood why despite me knowing I am a workaholic — I felt like this is one more thing I don’t ‘’fit in’’ the stereotypical description.

So what am I then — if not the stereotypical workaholic?

Well, as with everything else in life — I fluidly move from one category to another — but my workaholic ‘’home base’’ is actually the Attention Deficit Workaholic.

I’ve spoken about it multiple times, but it might be relevant to share here too — if ADD and ADHD were a thing when I was a kid in school — I’d have easily been diagnosed with ADD. My schooling years feel like they never happened — mentally I was just not there. I was bored, distracted and quietly escaping the reality of the classroom with far more interesting ideas, projects and thoughts in my mind.

Anyhow — let’s see — where are you going to find yourself among the different Workaholic types.

Workaholism & its Types

· Different work styles = different sets of emotional/cognitive vulnerabilities

· Workaholics can be found at every level of income, not only high-paid positions

Relentless Workaholic:

· Stereotypical workaholic: working all the time, few periods of downtime, leisure and recreation, work more important than relationships

· Completion: overcommitting but getting the job done weeks ahead of schedule = high productivity

· Initiation: tasks are quickly done = quick on to new tasks

· Addiction: Adrenaline kick of finishing task, praise from others

· Perfectionist: standards practically unreachable, take work seriously, abhor incompetence of others

“You have to balance your passions, not your time.” – Lisa Sugar

Bulimic Workaholic:

· Alternate between binge and purge = seems to others as if avoiding work but internally obsessing about it

· Initiation: not starting, procrastinating until last minute

· Completion: times of frantic productivity with over-commitment, not stopping before the job is done -> collapsing afterwards -> long time not being productive

· Perfectionist: distracting themselves because of fear of doing tasks not perfectly -> work anorexic

Attention-Deficit Workaholic:

· Adrenaline-seeking, easily bored and distracted, constantly seeking stimulation

· Initiation: new tasks = new excitement/adrenaline -> innovators

· Completion: losing interest in/not paying attention to details, impulsive decisions -> leaving projects unfinished

· Addiction: adrenaline charge -> creating a crisis to solve -> attention and praise from others for resolving the crisis, might be undiscovered ADD

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn, Motivational Speaker

Savouring Workaholic:

· Slow, deliberate, methodical, detailed, self-absorbed, no team workers

· Completion: don’t know when the job is done, never good enough -> over-analyzing, lost in details, creating additional work when almost done -> never closure nor real accomplishment

· Initiation: don’t want to start new tasks because the old one is never done

· Addiction: always being busy, ticking off tasks on lists -> shows accomplishment on paper

So, now that you are familiar with the different types of workaholics — which one would you class yourself to be?

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