It’s great when you love your job and feel enthused about working. It’s not so great, however, when you work so much that it starts interfering with other aspects of your life. Overworking can lead to a host of health problems, from chronic stress to poor sleep to substance abuse. If you find yourself or your sales reps on a path of constantly working, it may be time to get real about the issue.

Leks Drakos, an academic and contributing writer for Atlassian, says work addiction is a real condition—and almost half (48 percent) of Americans identify as workaholics. While there’s no quick fix for breaking a work addiction, you can take some steps to get some balance back to your life.

In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we share Drakos’ suggestions for helping your sales team avoid overworking.

Encourage time off. Your sales reps may feel compelled to work over holiday weekends or they may hesitate to take vacation time. This may stem from a desire to be seen as a team player or they may be hopeful about a promotion and want to be seen as a hard worker. Let your sales reps know they can truly unplug from work when they’re away. Encourage them to enjoy down time away from the office.

Honor work-life balance. If you typically email late at night or on the weekends, you may be inadvertently adding pressure to your sales reps to respond during off hours. It’s okay if you’re a night owl or early bird, Drakos says. Just be sure your sales team knows you don’t expect a response when they’re offline.

Lead by example. If you want your sales team to step away from work and recharge, be sure you do the same. Let your staff know you won’t be checking email, voicemail or other messages during your time off. However, Drakos says it’s a good idea for your team to have your cell number in case of a truly urgent matter.

Accept “no.” Many sales professionals find themselves overworked and stretched too thin because they don’t feel empowered to say “no.” Drakos says it’s important to give your team members a framework for fielding requests that might interfere with their other work. Create a culture where “no” is acceptable.

Protect your sales team. This point aligns with the tip above. When external requests are pressing on your sales reps, it’s important to make sure your team members have the time and bandwidth to assist, says Drakos. If they don’t, adjust their workload or divert the request somewhere else.

Track your time at work. Another way to prevent overworking is to stay mindful of how you spend your time. Drakos suggests tracking not just how many hours you work each day, but also how much time you invest in specific tasks. If you spend longer than you anticipated on something, ask yourself why.

Simplify. When you have multiple competing priorities, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of overworking. To get ahead of this, always try to prioritize your schedule. What needs to get done this week or today? Then choose just one task to work on.

When you or your sales reps put in far too many hours, it doesn’t end up benefitting anyone. Instead of glorifying overworking, make a point to create more balance at your workplace. You’ll likely benefit from improved creativity, productivity and health.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers

Source: Leks Drakos is an academic and contributing writer for Atlassian.