Some people can’t see the difference between their work life and their actual life.
Some people like to get in and get out at work. They show up on time and do their jobs, but when it’s time to leave, they’re done for the day. They have a life outside of work, and they’re not afraid to live it. Other people are the exact opposite. They live to work. They’ve let their job overtake their life outside of work and really become who they are.
A woman named Sara, known as @corporatecleanse on TikTok, helps workers get through their corporate burnout, so she understands how easily someone can let their job become their identity. In one video, she shared four signs you can look for in your co-workers that indicate their job is their entire life. You’ve got to be careful with these co-workers because they have an entirely different value system and set of priorities.
Yan Krukau | Pexels
Have you ever encountered someone who doesn’t really have any hobbies outside of work? Instead, work is just … everything to them? That’s someone who has made work their whole personality. “Every conversation is ‘my team, my project, my boss said,'” Sara explained. “Like, babe, do you have hobbies, or is Microsoft Teams your entire hobby?”
As Sara pointed out, these co-workers tend to get upset when other people aren’t as locked in to the job as they are. “You say, ‘I’ll look at it tomorrow,’ and they act like the building is about to be on fire,” she said.
Writing for The Muse, Stacey Lastoe explained that this is the key to avoiding burnout. “If you’re all-work all the time, you’re bound to burn out at some point,” she said. “And coming back from that isn’t always easy. Taking time to focus on personal interests and activities can actually lead you to be more creative in your day-to-day.” It’s essential to have a life outside of work, no matter how much you love your job.
This doesn’t mean that this co-worker doesn’t actually have other family members. It just means they prioritize their job and team at work like an average person would their own family. “They take every little work thing personal,” Sara described. “You don’t show up to the team happy hour and they’re like, ‘Wow, I guess you don’t like us.’ And you’re like, ‘Yeah, correct. I like my actual family.'”
Jeremy Bradley-Silverio Donato, the COO at Zama, explained that having this mindset can be really damaging because the workplace is obviously not a family relationship. “When conditions aren’t met, you could be laid off, no matter how closely you identify with your ‘work family,'” he said. “This misplaced expectation can lead to feelings of betrayal when professional paths diverge or when hard business decisions must be made.” Someone can be close with the people they work with, but that doesn’t make them family.
RELATED: Career Expert Says It’s ‘Cruel’ To Pretend Middle-Class Kids Can Afford To Pursue Certain Jobs
RDNE Stock project | Pexels
Those co-workers who are available 24/7 aren’t just super productive and focused on results. They actually have an unhealthy relationship with their jobs. “They think a rest is being weak,” Sara said. “They brag about suffering. ‘I was online until 10 p.m.’ That’s not a flex, that’s a red flag.”
Lieke ten Brummelhuis was a co-author on a study that examined the effects of being a workaholic, which were actually not all bad. In an interview, ten Brummelhuis noted, “If you’re working long hours and you are compulsive — so you’re preoccupied with work all the time, you can’t switch off, you go to bed but you can’t sleep because you’re ruminating about your job, that’s the unhealthy version of working excessive hours.” If someone devotes all of their time to work, that’s not healthy.
Anna Shvets | Pexels
This point could really be considered the culmination of the previous three. For these co-workers, work has become their identity and their purpose. “The weekend comes and they’re still talking about work,” Sara said. “Vacation comes around and they’re still checking their email and popping up in meetings.” These people don’t know how to disconnect from the job and live a life outside of it.
Physician Jordan Grumet, MD, stated, “A substantial number of individuals derive their identity from their occupations. According to a Gallup survey, 55% of U.S. workers report that their job is a significant part of their identity, while 42% view their job merely as a means to earn a living. This trend underscores the deep connection many feel between their professional roles and personal identities.” Work can be important to a person, but that doesn’t mean it should define who they are.
If you notice a co-worker doing these things, it’s a big red flag. It means that they don’t know how to separate their job from the rest of their life because the two have essentially become one and the same. As Sara said, “That’s not what dedication looks like. Continue living like this and you’ve earned yourself a one-way ticket to burnout.” Unfortunately, some people just can’t see their work as a single aspect of their life that does not overtake the whole.
RELATED: After 39 Rounds Of 1-On-1 Interviews, Former Investment Banker Reveals The One Humble Question That Finally Landed Him The Job
