Personal Balance

Tools

Are You A Pause-A-Phobic?

© 2005 Patricia Katz, Optimus Consulting. All rights reserved.

Find out if you suffer from a reluctance to give yourself a break. Answer yes or no to each question.

Yes No Question
1. Are you first to work and last to call it quits for the day?
2. Do you scrimp on sleep to find more time for work?
3. Do you skip, cut short, or carry over your vacation time and days off?
4. Do you arrive late for social events and make excuses to leave early?
5. Do you fake attention when others are speaking to you?
6. Would it be a struggle to list the top three issues on your partner's mind?
7. Do you promise key people in your life you'll make time for them soon?
8. Does your everyday busy-ness lack meaning and direction?
9. Do you repeatedly shunt big opportunities to the back burner?
10. Do you have the same experiences repeatedly without learning from them?
11. Do you feel that no matter how much you do, it's never enough?
12. Do you skip exercising because you've got too much to do?
13. Are you a slave to your techno tools (phone, computer, pager)?
14. Do you work in one position so long that your body seizes up?
15. Do you forgo lunch or eat while working so you can get more done?
16. Do you schedule commitments back to back for maximum efficiency?
17. Do you multitask at every possible moment of the day?
18. Is white space hard to find on your calendar?
19. Do you overlook anniversaries and special occasions?
20. Do you feel guilty when sitting still or doing nothing?
21. Do you keep on driving forward even though your body screams stop?
22. Do you ignore or anaesthetize heartaches and headaches?
23. Do you reschedule medical appointments because you're just too busy?
24. Do you resent the pace and frenzy of your life?
25. Do you fear that taking breaks will waste time and leave you further behind?

Yes
No		 Your total score

Scoring Guide and Interpretation: Give yourself one point for each Yes response. The higher your score, the more you suffer from Pause-A-Phobia – a reluctance to give yourself a break. Why is it a problem? Because Pause-A-Phobics who don't make and take breaks end up breaking down anyway - often at the worst times with serious results. Those who do pause reap the benefits. They learn. They connect. They energize. They innovate. They appreciate. Do yourself a favor. Give yourself a break!

Looking for more ways to improve the balance of performance and renewal in your organization? Explore out the Programs area of the Pauseworks site.