白领美丽英文诵典365 -058 Tips and Advice for Workahol

Tips and Advice for Workaholics

Lately, your job has taken up much of your time. You've even started bringing work at home and you keep working until the wee hours (凌晨）of the morning. You spend Saturdays and Sundays with your head bent¹ on your work. And you're supposed to spend these days with your family, or friends, or for your relaxation²!

No longer do you work in order to live, but you now live in order to work. Work is now the center of your daily life, while the more important things have been relegated³ （转移，归入）to the trunk of your car; or in the backseat, if things are still not that worse.

A workaholic. This is what you have become. The only time you don't think of work is during the three or four hours a day that you spend sleeping. You devote 16 hours of your day each day to working furiously: making money, reaching goals, working on giving your families the best, planning and mobilizing yourself for success.

But little do you realize that by being too caught up with work, you gradually forget the reasons why you work: your family. Sure, you work to earn lots of money for them, but when was the last time you spent a full hour of quality time with your kids? Or your mom and dad? Or your friends? When was the last time you did something you used to do and enjoy before you mutated into a workaholic?

Here are a few tips to help you, the workaholic, re-focus and get the best out of life (and keep you healthy and alive in the long run too!):

EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP! Make it a point to get at least eight hours of sleep and plenty of rest. While food has substitutes in the form of natural medicines or artificial foods, there are no substitutes for sleep and rest. Don't believe that you can always "catch some sleep or rest later." Your body cannot make up for lost sleep or rest time because it is not physiologically⁴ possible.

STRICTLY⁵ FAMILY ON WEEKENDS! Resolve to make Saturdays and Sundays strictly for family time. And stick to this! Mondays until Fridays you make an excuse not to relax and spend time with your family because it's work time, why not make a similar excuse for Saturdays and Sundays? "I can't work today because I'm spending time with my family."

GET SOME FOOD IN! Make sure you get food in your stomach. Workaholics are known to be food-skippers. If you can't afford to get off your desk or from doing paperwork, have food delivered to you. It's always a good idea if you have crackers⁶ on your drawer to ease the hunger pangs⁷.

CONFINE WORK! Resolve to confine （限制，禁闭）work in your office. Don't bring work to your home! Keep those files in your office desk where they belong. If you work from home, keep your work stuff in the confines of your home office. Keep them there until the next day when you start work. Practice working only within your working hours. If you have an eight-to-five working schedule, stick to it.

WORK UP THOSE MUSCLES! Exercise, exercise, exercise! Set aside at least an hour each day or every other day for exercise. You body needs to be conditioned, and working non-stop isn't going to give it the proper physical conditioning it needs. Since most workaholics tend to have their behinds stuck on their chairs, it's even more important that you get some exercise.

MAKE A PLAN! Plan your day. Work on only one or two things at a time. It's much easier to work on something and finish it first and then move on to the next rather than do a number of things all at the same time and never finish or accomplish anything at the end of the day. Make out a list of priorities. Write down things that need to be worked on immediately or are urgent, keeping the least ones at the bottom of your list. After you've done this, be guided by this list. Turning this activity into a habit will also help you manage your time better, be more organized, and accomplish more.

WORK TO LIVE! Always keep in mind that you work so you can live and have a comfortable life. Always remember that you don't live to work. Working is just one of the many useful and fruitful activities you do that enables you to live a good life and give your family (or any of your dependents) their needs. Don't make work your life.

Yes, you've gotten side-tracked. You've gotten too into working that you've forgotten how to enjoy life and the many things it offers. Yes, you're a hard worker and it's not a bad trait.（显著特点，特性）

However, living with nothing but work in mind is.

If you start following the tips outlined today, then you've just taken the first step to living a healthy, successful and happy life!

1 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

2 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

3 relegated   

v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类

参考例句：

• She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
• I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 physiologically   

ad.生理上，在生理学上

参考例句：

• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder cannot be completely separated physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上不能完全分离。
• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder are closely related physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上紧密联系。

5 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

6 crackers   

adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘

参考例句：

• That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 pangs   

突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛

参考例句：

• She felt sudden pangs of regret. 她突然感到痛悔不已。
• With touching pathos he described the pangs of hunger. 他以极具感伤力的笔触描述了饥饿的痛苦。