Putting work before relationships is detrimental to your marriage. It’s often difficult for a workaholic spouse to realize that they’re working too much and see that overworking impacts marriage. They miss out on important life events with their loved ones and cause strain in their marriage.
In this article, we discuss how to identify a workaholic, so you can figure out how to overcome it. We also discuss what it’s like to be married to a workaholic to give you some perspective on the effects of working too much. Continue reading if you want the tools to save your marriage.
Signs of Overworking
It’s not uncommon for a workaholic to not realize that working too much is affecting their marriage. Plus, they may not even realize they are a workaholic. Before we can look at how overworking impacts marriage, we have to learn how to identify a workaholic.
Work is the Priority
A workaholic is known for putting work before relationships. When they’re not in the office, work is on their mind. These are the type of people who are constantly checking their phones and emails and making job-related calls.
Limited Time-Off
Another telltale sign of working too much is limited time-off and a lack of a good work-life balance. Workaholic hardly takes any time for themselves or their loved ones; they’re always working or thinking about work. This includes evenings, weekends, and vacations.
Constant Sacrifices
A part of putting work before relationships are making constant sacrifices. A workaholic spouse may cancel weekend trips or events because they needed to head into the office. In some cases, their families spend time without them; other times, the entire family has to sacrifice their fun as well.
Overworking Impacts Marriage
Learning how overworking impacts marriage is essential in learning how to fix it. A workaholic spouse may believe that their work doesn’t impact their marriage, but it can actually be detrimental. In some cases, working too much may end your marriage.
Stress Is Contagious
Working too much leads to stress because your mind is always at the office and what you “should“ be doing. Being married to a workaholic is stressful because stress is contagious. The amount of stress and worry you’re experiencing from your job is shared with your spouse, which puts strain on your relationship.
Redirecting Emotions
We’ve discussed how working too much can lead to stress, but it can also lead to other emotions such as frustration and anger. It can be not easy to express these emotions tactfully in a professional setting, so you may opt to keep them to yourself. However, this makes it easier to redirect them toward your spouse when you’re home.
Lack of Quality Time
Some of the sacrifices resulting from putting work before relationships include a lack of quality time with your spouse. This makes being married to a workaholic especially challenging. The spouse doesn’t feel prioritized, which can create emotional distance and anxiety in the marriage.
How to Save Your Marriage
Now that you know how to identify the signs of being a workaholic and what it can do to your marriage, you can work on making things better. To overcome how working too much affects your marriage, you have to be dedicated to the process.
Communication
Our first recommendation for most issues in a marriage is to utilize good communication. It’s important to voice your emotions, whether you’re the workaholic spouse or not. Getting on the same page and developing an understanding of your marriage and work will help you problem-solve.
It’s also important to talk about each other’s needs and find a way to comprise, so both parties are content. Marriage is about giving and taking, so communicating each other’s needs will bring you closer together.
Set Boundaries
When you’re used to putting work before relationships, setting boundaries at work can be challenging, but it’s essential for a healthy marriage. This is something you and your spouse can work on together. You can decide how to limit interruptions at home and what exceptions you both can allow.
Make Time
This is sometimes easier said than done, but making time is essential for a healthy marriage. Whether or not you have kids at home, make time to spend time just the two of you. This will help you build a stronger romantic bond with your spouse.
Keep Promises
Being married to a workaholic spouse often means dealing with many broken promises, which isn’t fair to the workaholic or their family. If you want to stop putting work before relationships, you have to make an effort to keep your promises. Try to come up with contingency plans if something goes wrong at work; that way, you won’t have to be the one to handle it.
Work with a Professional
Sometimes the way overworking impacts marriage is difficult to overcome with just you and your spouse. For that reason, we recommend considering working with a professional marriage counselor. They can give you the tools to communicate effectively and help you both set reasonable goals and compromises.
Understand How Overworking Impacts Marriage
Understanding how overworking impacts marriage is the first step in keeping your marriage healthy, especially when you’re already working too much. Once you’ve identified that you are a workaholic spouse, you can team up with your partner to figure out how to deal with it so you can stop putting work before relationships. Start by openly communicating, but don’t rule out seeking professional help if it’s needed.
For more marriage advice you can start using today, visit our Advice section.