7 Ways To Know If You’re ‘The Office Workhorse,’ Rarely Getting Ahead

“The office workhorse” is the reliable employee who overloads himself or herself with more tasks than they can possibly accomplish. If you’re “the office workhorse,” you take responsibility for more than your share of the work that benefits the team, but you don’t get the recognition, promotion or raise you deserve.

Here are seven ways to know if you qualify as “the office workhorse”:

1. You overly commit yourself by biting off more than you can chew.
2. You usually don’t ask for help with work tasks.
3. You assume tasks that are the responsibility of managers or senior colleagues.
4. You’re still working after coworkers have called it quits.
5. You feel undervalued for the amount of work you do.
6. You don’t get recognition, raises or promotions for your extra work.
7. Your workload is burning you out.

Data shows that due to ongoing layoffs, many companies are overloading and pushing employees to the limit, according to the recent MyPerfectResume’s Worker Burnout Report. The study reveals a concerning trend that nearly 88% of workers are experiencing burnout with one in four employees suffering from mental and physical exhaustion and a disturbing number exhibiting behavioral outbursts.

But according to a new study by SideHustles.com, over 61% of employees are who call themselves “the office workhorse,” are burning out because of their own actions. They are piling on extra tasks without recognition—and one in three are now considering leaving their jobs due to feeling undervalued. The study polled 1,003 full-time workers about their workplace habits and “the office workhouse” phenomenon happening in today’s market. Here are some of the key takeaways:

• 61% of employees consider themselves “the office workhorse.”
• Gen X are the most likely to identify as “the office workhorse” at 64% and Gen Z is the least likely at 52%.
• 55% of office workhorses say they feel undervalued.
• One in eight workhorses have not received a raise in the past three years.
• 55% of workhorses feel stuck in their roles, and 51% report burnout.
• 31% of workhorses are considering leaving their job, with 24% exploring other roles and seven percent planning to transition to freelancing due to feeling undervalued.

Stepping Out Of The Workhorse Role

In order to curb your workhorse tendencies, the first step is to realize how your own actions could be contributing to your overload and burnout and make self-care a priority. Here are additional steps you can take.

1. Create bare minimum Mondays. This form of self-care helps workhorses ease into the workweek without major deadlines, meetings and sifting through inboxes. Give yourself a break and start your work off slowly to set the tone for the remainder of the day and week.
2. Set boundaries. If you don’t want to be “the office workhorse,” it’s important to know your limitations and where to draw the line. Don’t hesitate to say no to a job request when you’re already overloaded, trying to keep your head above water. If you’re a remote worker, confine work to a specific area of your home so your job doesn’t intrude into the lives of other household members. Have a designated space for your workstation instead of spreading work out on the kitchen table or in front of the TV. Putting a hard stop time to your workday is crucial to ending burnout. After hours, keep your work space at arm’s length as if it’s five miles across town.
3. Practice the basics. Make sure you get ample sleep, good nutrition, movement, stress management and social connection with others.
4. Take Microbreaks. Taking microbreaks in the workflow of your day—five or ten minutes—helps you unwind and reset your energy level. After hours of sitting, short breaks are effective energy management strategies that can be as simple as stretching, walking up and down stairs, snacking, deep breathing, yoga or balancing screen time with green time in nature.
5. Practice mindfulness. Keep your awareness in the present moment while you navigate the workday. If you start to feel overwhelmed, your mind can wander into the past or future, paralyzing you. Practice bringing your mind back into the present. One of the simplest ways to do that is to use your breath as a focal point. Deep breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth and focusing on each inhalation and exhalation—following your breath through to a full cycle from the beginning when the lungs are full back down to when they’re empty—calms down your mind so that you can take action.
6. Avoid procrastination. Don’t let yourself get overloaded to begin with. Get the simple and easy tasks out of the way first, by choosing one task that you can accomplish quickly. Completing it can jump-start your motivation and preempt procrastination. If you have several items on your list, you can distinguish between essentials and non-essentials and work through the tasks that need immediate completion one at a time.
7. Send self-judgment packing. When you’re overwhelmed and beat yourself up with self-judgment, it adds insult to injury. That’s like fighting the fire department when your house is on fire. Words are powerful, especially when you’re overloaded with tasks. You can’t have a front without a back, a top without a bottom, or a right without a left. Try flipping your negative self-talk in a more positive direction to balance your perspective. For example, when you focus on your shortcomings, make a list of your “tallcomings”—all of your positive qualities and skills. Or when you flip the statement, “I’m so overloaded I don’t know how I’ll get my head above water,” it becomes, “I can stop overloading myself” or “When I have a lot n my plate, I can take each task one step at a time until I’m done.”
8. Create a “to be list.” One of the biggest mistakes the office workhorse makes is to try pushing through burnout, and that can exacerbate the problem. The best medicine is to practice “being” instead of “doing.” There are many ways to achieve rest and relaxation. When you’re trying to relax, flip the old adage by saying to yourself, “Don’t just do something, sit there.” Slow down your pace and pay attention to your body and what it needs. Engage in restful activities such as listening to soft music, reading a good book or gazing out the window at nature. Watch the grass grow or watch a sunset or bird nesting. And there’s always good reason to take a nap during the workday.
9. Seek support. Your first responsibility is to yourself to not let shame or intimidation cause you to continue to overload yourself or keep you from talking to your manager about the possibility of a deadline extension, a more flexible schedule or reduced workload.

Seeking professional help is essential after you’ve tried the aforementioned measures and you’re still unable to forgo “the office workhorse” role. Consider taking advantage of counseling and other support programs offered through employee assistance programs. Or contact Mental Health America to find resources closest to you.