If you’re a workaholic, finding the time to date and maintain relationships can seem incredibly challenging. 60-hour weeks are considered “slow” weeks and no hour is too sacred to get “one last thing” done. The job always takes precedence over relationships and has a tendency to absorb every available minute. Not only is this frenetic pace often unnecessary, but it makes dating difficult. A workaholic’s schedule prevents him (or her) from enjoying a fulfilling dating life. Today, I’ll describe how you can date, encourage intimacy, and still manage to get all of your work done.
The Quick Date Habit
First, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying quick dates, especially first dates. They can be perfect opportunities to sneak away with your partner in the middle of the day. That said, workaholics have a tendency to only schedule quick dates with their partner before returning to their work. If you make a habit of doing this, your partner will begin to feel neglected and frustrated. They’ll begin to wonder about the priority you place upon the relationship.
If left unchecked, this habit can wear away the level of intimacy you share and slowly cause the relationship to deteriorate. Or, it can prevent you from establishing a connection with anyone you’re dating.
Getting Feedback
After awhile, your dating partner will let you know if you’re not spending enough time with them. Value this feedback. Without talking things over, it’s impossible to know what your partner needs from you. If you think your partner is being unreasonable with demands for your time, get feedback from your family and close friends. Ask them whether they think you’re working too hard. A lot of workaholics don’t identify themselves as being such. Honest feedback can be sobering.
Knowing When To Quit
Is it possible to be a workaholic and still enjoy a satisfying dating life? Sure, but it does require a change. Most workaholics don’t know when to quit working. There’s always something that needs to get done and it can never wait. Unfortunately, it’s this mentality that hampers intimacy and prevents a dating relationship from growing past its initial stages. As a workaholic, you must be able to identify the tendency and say “enough is enough.”
The Road To Dating Fulfillment
Being a workaholic isn’t something that you can turn off immediately. Often, it’s the result of powerful influences on your life over several years. First, you need to identify why you’re working so hard. If it’s simply to get a promotion, then it’s a short-term event. On the other hand, if you were raised to overachieve, that may imply a deeper issue. Both can impact your dating life. In either case, being honest with yourself and communicating with your partner is critical to building intimacy. And for most people, that is far more fulfilling than a job could ever be.