Malissa Clark, associate professor and industrial/organizational psychologist in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ psychology department, spoke with Harvard Business Review to discuss workaholism and how to overcome it.
Clark characterizes workaholism as a person’s inability to disconnect from their job. The addiction gets to a point where it takes over a person’s thoughts and actions, detracting from other aspects of their life.
Workaholism can become evident when a person finds themselves putting work above loved ones or the person’s own mental and physical health.
To overcome the addiction, Clark recommends resetting your workaholic “clock.” You should stop underestimating how long tasks truly take. In doing so, you can work to move toward being less willing to do whatever it takes to get a task done.