Episode 98 | Chained to the Desk: Understanding and Recovering from Work Addiction

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About Bryan E. Robinson, PhD:

BRYAN E. ROBINSON, PhD, is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in Asheville, North Carolina and Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the author of over forty books, his latest being CHAINED TO THE DESK IN A HYBRID WORLD: A GUIDE FOR WORK-LIFE BALANCE. He is a regular contributor to Forbes.com and Thrive Global. On the side, he writes murder mysteries. His tagline is, “I heal by day and kill by night.”   

Robinson has published his research in over a hundred scholarly journals. He received the American Counseling Association’s Research Award and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s First Citizen Scholars Medal for his pioneering research on the negative consequences of workaholism. Has been featured on numerous television programs, including ABC’s 20/20, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, the NBC Nightly News, the CBS Early Show, The Doctors, and the PBS show The Marketplace.  

Robinson’s latest novel, a murder mystery called Way DEAD Upon the Suwannee River, was made into a pilot for a television series and is being produced as a stage musical in 2025. 

Visit his website at www.bryanrobinsonphd.com or email him at bryanrobinsonphd@gmail.com.

Episode Notes:

Dr. Laura welcomes Bryan Robinson, PhD, a psychotherapist and Professor Emeritus from the University of North Carolina. He is also the best-selling author of over 39 books, including his latest non-fiction, Chained to the Desk in a Hybrid World. Dr. Robinson has researched and written extensively on the subjects of work-life balance, workaholism, and the impact of workaholism on families. Dr. Laura dives deep into Bryan’s understanding of work addiction and how to regain perspective and balance in one’s life.

Dr. Robinson describes his own experience with workaholism and how deeply anxious he’d become if he didn’t have work to do. Despite a failing marriage and physical health issues due to workaholism, it wasn’t until he had a profound experience with the compassion and clarity exhibited by Tibetan monks that he started his journey toward balance. Bryan explains how counterintuitive it is to stop fighting and learn to float more in life, as in a riptide, but stresses it’s finding balance to our fight or flight sympathetic nervous system that holds the key to self-care. 

Dr. Laura and Dr. Robinson talk about the lessons in his book Chained to the Desk in a Hybrid World, how Gen Z is changing the face of workaholism for the better, what “work jerkery” refers to, and how writing murder mysteries is part of Bryan’s own balance in life. 

“I’m fortunate enough to live on the side of a mountain with an incredible view of the sunsets and just watching the sunset is fulfilling. And it also helps these creative ideas hatch. It’s like an incubator. So even though I’m doing nothing, something’s happening. And that’s what we have to understand. Then what about my shortcomings? I can tell you what those are, but … what are my tallcomings again? People often go blank. But what you’re doing is you’re bringing balance to your thinking. You know, have a health day to balance out your sick days. Having green time to balance out the screen time.” – Bryan Robinson, PhD

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