As this article from CareerBuilder.com (via CNN) clearly shows, there are multiple downsides to the repetitive long hours many self-confessed workaholics put in regularly.

Rachel Weingarten, the marketing consultant profiled in the piece, seems like a poster child for the evils of workaholism. She says it’s been “over eight years” since her last vacation; she regularly works ten hour days, seven days a week; and doesn’t “know how to relax.” It doesn’t take a brilliant doctor to figure out what that sort of lifestyle will do to the human body over time.

But more than physical debilitation is at stake; the very act of working long hours itself can backfire on your work reputation. Seems paradoxical but as the article points out, that sort of schedule cuts both ways - are you addicted to work? Or are you just inefficient? Factor in the reduced productivity level and it’s easy to figure out why so many in corporate America are heading for burnout or worse.

So think about the flip side before your next late stay at the office! Try working in some stretch breaks during the day; take a yoga or fitness class after work or during lunch; and make a pact with the family or yourself to be home by a certain time every day. Whatever it takes to get you out the door, with work left squarely behind you.

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