Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens.

Our culture celebrates workaholism. We hear stories of people who “burn the mid-night oil” at the office, or about individuals who never take vacations. Working a lot doesn’t mean you deserve a gold star or a raise.

Working too much is likely to decrease your productivity, leave you creatively drained, and negatively effect relationships with friends and family. Don’t get me wrong, pursuing your passion is a beautiful gift and there is nothing wrong with working hard on projects you love. However, it’s essential to take breaks. Whether you’re working from home or in an office environment it’s essential to nourish your creative spirit.

Below are a few creative ways to avoid becoming a workaholic.

1. Set clear boundaries. Make sure your working hours are consistent. For instance, if you work from 8am to 5pm make sure you leave the office by 5. Don’t stay late.

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“After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul, and you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning and company doesn’t mean security, and you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises, and you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, with the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child, and you learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans. After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much. So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure… that you really are strong, and you really do have worth.”

~Veronica A. Shoffstall

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The 48 Laws of Power

by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers

Law 1

Never Outshine the Master

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior.  In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity.  Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.

Law 2

Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies

Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy.  They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove.  In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies.  If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.

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“Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Lori Deschene of Tiny Buddha.

If there’s one thing we all have in common it’s that we want to feel happy; and on the other side of that coin, we want to avoid hurting. Yet we consistently put ourselves in situations that set us up for pain.

We pin our happiness to people, circumstances, and things and hold onto them for dear life. We stress about the possibility of losing them when something seems amiss. Then we melt into grief when something changes—a lay off, a break up, a transfer.

We attach to feelings as if they define us, and ironically, not just positive ones. If you’ve wallowed in regret or disappointment for years, it can seem safe and even comforting to suffer. (more…)

Inspirational Quotes

Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it.
~Edna St. Vincent Millay

The best advice is this: Don’t take advice and don’t give advice.
~Author Unknown

Listen to advice and accept correction, then in the end you will be wise.
~Old Proverb

The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.
~ Oscar Wilde

There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.
~Gore Vidal

If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don’t listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.
~Lillian Hellman

Give advice to your children while they’re young enough to believe you know what you’re talking about.
~Unknown

It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good advice is absolutely fatal
~ Oscar Wilde

A young painter who cannot liberate himself from the influence of past generations is digging his own grave.
~Henri Matisse

Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it.
~William Somerset Maugham

It is easy when we are in prosperity to give advice to the afflicted.
~Aeschylus

I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.
~G. K. Chesterton

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