Sitting at your desk thinking about skiing? Or sitting on the ski slopes thinking about work? According to WebMD, your answer could mean the difference in you being a hard worker and a workaholic?
The Japanese call it karoshi, which means "death by work", and in the Netherlands they refer to it as "leisure illness." But in America the term workaholic doesn't carry such a serious meaning. Here, being a workaholic is still considered a "respectable addiction." This is mainly because such an addiction is good for your employer's bottom line. Unlike alcohol and drug abuse, workaholic employees are often rewarded.
But the big difference between being a hard worker and being a workaholic is balance. Workaholics get so consumed with their job, their health and social relationships start to fall by the wayside. Often it isn't until a major crisis occurs, a heart attack or a significant other moves out, that the workaholic gets a clue something is out of whack.
Workaholics are people who may have children but never seem to get to that Little League game or school play. This is not because they have to work, but because they feel they need to.
This is because workaholics are addicted to adrenaline. They tend to seek out high-stress jobs that allow them to exercise their addiction - to keep that adrenaline rush going.
And when we say workplace, that doesn't have to be an office. Stay-at-home moms can easily be workaholics when they devote all their time to parenting, running for PTA president and being a scout leader. All that time devoted to the kids means someone's missing out on personal hobbies and adult relationships.
If you think you might be working more than is good for your health or the ones you love, Workaholics Anonymous provides a list of 20 questions to help you find out. We'll help you out too, by putting a link to the list at Tesh .com. And by the way, the workaholic is the one on the ski slope thinking about work   not the guy at his desk thinking about skiing.