If your Facebook relationship status and current occupation are seemingly indistinguishable, then maybe you need to look out for these 5 signs that you’re married to your job.
The Hallmark calendar is truly in full swing as St Valentine encourages us to show our adoration for our soul mates, baes and one true loves. For some though, the light of their lives is a little more demanding with many being more inclined to buy chocolates for the office than for the secretly admired.
If Cupid’s arrow is starting to look a little more Biro shaped, then maybe you need to check for the following symptoms:
‘Work talk’ has replaced ‘small talk’
Small talk may be the scourge of social convention but it’s still rarely acceptable to talk about your latest office exploits in response to ‘what nice weather we’re having.’ While your passion for the job is no doubt admirable, you’ve become boring and predictable and the only social gatherings you’re now suited for are hosted by LinkedIn or business magnates.
You may once have been the life of the party but your inability to contribute to non-career discussions has left you more the Bono of the ball than the belle.
Your job is your hobby
Remember the days when you had pastimes and enjoyed life? Maybe you took dance lessons? Perhaps you loved to cook? Or maybe your coin collection was the envy of all your friends? Well these hobbies have probably been consigned to the closet of recreations past as your only interests now revolve around contacts, contracts and printer ink levels.
Being married to the job often leaves little time for hobbies and your 9-5 soon becomes your work, play and everything in between. This in turn leads you to become the boring and predictable individual I’ve already talked about. As the kids would say, get a life!
Phantom vibration syndrome
Believe it or not, phantom vibration syndrome is a real thing and it’s one of the leading symptoms of those suffering from a struggling (job)marriage. Phantom vibration syndrome is that mysterious experience where you feel your phone buzz in your pocket, only to find that you’ve received no text or notification of any kind (I know, spooky).
Now while most of us may have had this tele-normal encounter, the nerves of the long time job-wed are constantly expectant of digital pulses and can receive imaginary signals of communication, even if there’s no phone present. As yet, there is no known cure.
Sleep is just overtime disguise
Sleep; surely the one guaranteed reprieve from your relationship with the daily grind, where the only things that need counting are the sheep.WRONG! The buttoning of you stripy pyjamas signals the start of a distraction-less eight hours where your job is more than likely to join you beneath the sheets.
Midnight brainstorms, early hour emails and dreams of meetings yet to come are all surefire signs that you’ve become a little too attached to your job. If only you got as much done in your 9-5 as you do wearing your nightcap, eh?
Personal time means email time
The laptop is shut, the tie is off and you’ve decided to snuggle up on the couch with your significant other. You’ve earned this moment of real life and a few hours of escape affords you the time to catch up on the things that really matter – emails.
Your inbox is a virtual hub of work-related activity with one email typically leading to an infinite chain of ‘open, reply, send,’ until your partner is either asleep or you’re single. Time outside the office should be your chance to unwind and reconnect with those who mean most to you, and by that, I don’t mean your PA.
With our day jobs becoming ever more demanding, it’s easy to forget about the more important things in life (you know, the things that don’t involve spreadsheets and tea rounds). So maybe this Valentines Day, you should turn off your iPhone, divert your emails and spend some quality time with those who deserve it most.