Workaholic: Too Much?

Since I was 15 or 16, I've been employed. I've worked many jobs in a decade and discovered my work ethic is somewhere between devotion and addiction. Going to high school while working is one thing, but the game changed when I went to college for Radio Broadcasting.

Anyone who's taken a hands on, intensive college course knows:

• 40% is showing up to class & doing the assignments
• and 60% consists of live shows (I was music director in my final year too so scheduling & printing logs was big), production, promotion and being constantly glued to your smart phone to be tuned in to all the breaking EVERYTHING.

I did that, and worked three jobs once. It boggles my mind that I pay top dollar to rent/live alone considering I am almost literally never at home! I was going to class, hosting on-air shows (I had my own specialty show too - amyvolume.com can fill you in), being MD, trying to hold down a stable relationship all while working "part time" at my college bar, interning overnights at an alt rock radio station and bartending/serving at the Police Association.

The first thing to go in that set-up was not my sanity, it was my relationship. I think I burned through a couple meaningful relationships (both intimate and platonic) over the years, and I can't say that my schedule had nothing to do with that.

Today, at 25, not much has changed. I still burn the candle at both ends, and it's come to my attention that I may actually have an addiction to work. Why not? Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. I love every thing I've got going on in my life right now. But at what point does it all catch up with you?

As it stands, I do not have room for days off in my schedule. I consider "weekends" Sunday evenings from 5pm to 8am Monday morning when I'm back up to work my "part time" bar job. I don't do it because I need the money. I do it because it's gotta be part of my genetic make-up to keep busy via work.

Reading Wikipedia's definition of a "workaholic" is rather unsettling, and I definitely don't consider myself to be an ineffective employee. My work track record/resume is intense with jobs generally lasting from 1 to 7 years.

I'm a social butterfly, but constantly flake out on plans with friends because of work. I choose work over people - yet I sometimes take on & keep jobs because I love making new friends and networking. Is this logic flawed, and on the bigger scale - with Heart Disease being the number one killer in Canada especially for women) are we, the workaholics of the world, working towards a more grim & finite form of "retirement?"

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