Dating a workaholic is never easy for someone who is non-workaholic. They will not easily understand the challenges that a workaholic person faces.
You could see the workaholic person prioritizing work over meeting you, your plans might have to get postponed because of their work and several other issues might crop up.
Let’s check further below –
Dating a Workaholic – Signs to Look Out for
Dating a workaholic can be tricky and hence, before you leap, you must know the signs that you can look out for identifying a workaholic person.
We have already discussed in brief what dating a workaholic person is all about. Now, the question is how do you know that you are dating one?
How do you differentiate between dating someone who is having a busy week and dating a workaholic?
The following signs would easily help you locate a workaholic person –
1. They Give Priority to Work
It is one of the most obvious signs to suggest that you are dating a workaholic. When you see them giving priority to their work overseeing you and keep having this as their priority throughout the relationship, then there is no doubt that you are dating a workaholic.
Their focus is to finish off work-related tasks and meet deadlines. Nothing else matters to them, not even you.
2. Always Stuck on Their Laptop or Phone
If you are dating a workaholic, you will see them spending most of their time on their laptop or phone, either for scheduling meetings, checking and responding to emails, or talking to clients.
Gadgets play a crucial role in their line of work and they cannot afford to go anywhere without them. Even while going for lunch, they make sure to carry their gadgets along with them.
3. Spends Maximum Time in Office Than at Home
Even though this is true for most people because of the 40-hour work week, however, when you date a workaholic, you will see them enjoy spending most of their time at work rather than sparing time for family and leisure activities.
They might be doing freelance work or could be self-employed, still, you will see them staying glued to their professional responsibilities.
4. Rescheduling of Plans
There is always a very limited amount of free time available in a workaholic’s life.
So, if you have a date scheduled with them, there is every chance that you would need to reschedule it to some other day at their convenience.
It is because they might have to attend an emergency meeting or could even require them to finish an important assignment within a deadline.
Now, you might consider it best to catch up on a weekend. Still, you could find them to reschedule it once again if some work comes up.
While you are dating a workaholic, you will see them exceeding their actual 8 or 9 hours per day of work daily.
In response to your queries for the same, they will tell you that they have a meeting, they are meeting their deadlines or they are trying to reduce their burden for the upcoming days by working extra time.
You would realize that they are all genuine reasons for them. They enjoy working long hours and they feel good doing the same. After all, it is the hallmark of a workaholic person.
Dating a Workaholic – Tips to Keep the Relationship Healthy
When you date a workaholic, the probabilities of sacrifices, compromises, and challenges. multiply.
Moreover, their work commitments always have the upper hand in the relationship and you feel as if you do not get your desired attention and respect.
The following tips will help you a lot in adjusting to their style, getting the most out of your relationship, and keeping it healthy –
1. Chalk Out a Proper Schedule Between You and Your Partner
A workaholic person finds it tough to maintain the right balance between personal and professional commitments.
Hence, they fail to maintain schedules. You can take the initiative to make your partner correct this problem of theirs by asking them to share their schedule and tally the same with yours.
Chalk out a feasible schedule that is convenient for the two of you without having any fear of hampering your partner’s commitments toward their work. Try to keep a backup plan for work emergencies, which might crop up at any point in time.
2. Focus on the Importance of Mutual Understanding
People usually expect their partners to understand their feelings, even when they do not express them aloud. They must understand how significant their work is, to flourish in this profession.
When you try to understand their life’s perspectives, you will get clarity regarding why they need to be a workaholic.
Once you start giving them their desired space, they will also start acknowledging the sacrifices they are making to suit your needs.
Doing so will gradually make your partner realize how they have been neglecting you because of work.
3. Make Them Feel Good by Giving Small Surprises
Whenever you find time, you should try to give them surprises that can make them feel good. For instance, if you come home early from the office on a Friday, surprise them by dropping into their office during the lunch break.
You could even give them a surprise by picking them up from the office and spending some quality time with them over a coffee after a hard day’s work.
It will make them feel over the moon. These things will make them realize how important it is for them to take time out from their busy schedule for their partner.
4. Try Not to Let Your Partner’s Work Hamper Their Holidays
Rather than concentrating on all the workaholic relationship problems, ponder over ways through which you can help them turn things around.
It is one of the ideal steps to do the same. You must fix a rule to ensure that off days are only meant for spending quality time together.
In this regard, you can tell them that they should plan their work in such a manner, which would ensure they do not need to drag their work even during the weekend and also need not think too much about their schedule for the next week.
5. Avoid Nagging When They Are Busy
A date might be a workaholic and does not think about anything else, but what if their job profile demands them to be so?
The pressure of carrying out various responsibilities is such that they do not have any choice other than being obsessed with work.
Hence, rather than nagging about different aspects of your relationship, or putting the whole blame on their shoulders when things do not work out. You should stay calm and make them understand your viewpoints when they are in a good mood, which will allow them to give positive responses to your queries.
6. Accept the Challenges of Dating a Workaholic
When you think about the approach you must take for dating a workaholic, the best thing is to accept that you are in a relationship with one such workaholic person. You must stop expecting big things and just let things flow in your life.
Understand that certain things in your relationship will never change, hence it is useless to keep thinking otherwise.
You can ask yourself if it is worth your time and effort to date a workaholic. If you answer ‘yes’ to this question, then accept the truth and work with your partner to build a healthy relationship.
7. Talk to a Counselor for Dealing with Your Feelings Better
There are occasions when things become so tricky for the two of you to deal with the situation that it feels suffocating to be in a relationship with one another.
You are in a catch-22 situation, which neither makes you lead your life together nor you can think of staying away from each other.
In these cases, taking workaholic relationship advice from an expert who understands the viewpoints of both individuals becomes essential, as they can guide the couple regarding the way forward from this situation.
8. Do Everything Possible to Keep Yourself Busy
While dating a workaholic, as you are mentally prepared that your partner would mostly stay busy, it should not mean you cannot lead a life of your own by engaging in activities you like.
Try to spend quality ‘me time’ to reconnect with your personality.
Taking your focus away from the relationship can help you get far more clarity into the proceedings. When you spend time away from your partner, it will enable you to embrace yourself and build your identity.
9. Make Good Use of Technology When You Are Apart from One Another
Due to the presence of social media platforms, you are never really far from staying in touch with your partner, even if they are staying at a different place. One can always stay connected even when you are unable to meet each other for some time.
While dating a workaholic in a long-distance relationship, you must make sure to put that extra effort to keep things going. Otherwise, you will not have anything to look forward to in a relationship.
10. Develop a Different Perspective to Change Things Around
There will be occasions when you might question yourself if your partner is indeed a workaholic or if it is just that he is not interested in making the relationship grow. These thoughts can even make you contemplate whether you should end the relationship.
You might not have been mentally prepared to date a workaholic but you are doing so at the moment.
Now, as you are going on with the relationship, you could try to change your views about them. Looking into the positives of a workaholic’s personality would help you take the relationship forward.
11. Never Allow Your Sex Life to Lag Behind
You cannot do any sort of negotiation when it is about dealing with sex. Even when you are dating a workaholic, you cannot afford not to have physical intimacy with your partner.
You need to connect emotionally and physically to treat yourself as a couple. Make a schedule, if required, but do not let it slide. You must mutually agree to maintain an active sex life.
12. Invest Time Toward Carrying Out Household Chores
When you start treating yourself and your workaholic partner as a couple, it is important that if you stay together for some time, you must do your share of the duties by undertaking some household chores.
It would be wrong to expect that your partner would also help out in carrying out personal responsibilities as well.
As it is, they have been toiling hard at work, which does not allow them to spend time with you often enough. Hence, you must allow them to relax and chill out by watching a movie while having dinner together.
Final Words
We have discussed the signs you must look out for in identifying a workaholic person, which would help you get an idea about what you can expect from them in the dating phase.
Moreover, this article has also talked about the tips you must follow to keep the relationship with a workaholic individual healthy.
