It’s easy to give more time and attention to your work, especially when work is where you spend most of your time during the week. The workplace can also be demanding, forcing you to work long hours, robbing you of quality time from your spouse and children. Louis Upkins developed a simple quiz to help you look for the warning signs of spending to much time with work, and too little time with your family.

This quiz is published in Treat Me Like a Customer: Using Lessons from Work to Succeed in Life to determine whether you might need to rethink how you interact with your family. Check any of the following that apply to you, and check your score.

Warning Signs Quiz

1. During the past year I have missed an occasional dinner with my family because I had to work late.
2. During the past year I have not been physically present for at least one birthday, holiday or anniversary celebration with my wife and children.
3. During the past year our family did not have a vacation of at least one week or longer.
4. During the past year I have not spent a long weekend or more alone with my wife.
5. I do not know the names of my children’s best friends.
6. I do not have a weekly date with my wife.
7. I do not experience at least a half hour of one-on-one time with each of my children on a weekly basis.
8. During the past year I have never canceled an important meeting or business engagement so that I could spend more time with my wife or family.
9. When I travel I have missed at least one night of calling back home to speak with my wife and children.
10. During the past year my wife has attended a parent-teacher event without me.
11. It would be highly unusual for me to have lunch with my wife on a weekday unless we are on vacation or holiday.
12. At least once during the past year my wife has expressed concern that I might be working too hard or traveling too much.
13. During the past year my wife has not traveled with me on a business trip.
14. During the past year I have missed at least one special school event for my children (soccer game, concert, awards, banquet, etc.).
15. When I travel alone I always leave an itinerary and contact information with my wife.

Scoring the Quiz

If you checked … then you are …

• 0 … either perfect or have a poor memory
• 1-5 … almost Superdad! Way to go!
• 6-10 … pretty typical, so don’t feel bad. There’s hope!
• 11-15 … in need of a vacation with this book

For more ideas on how to improve your work-life balance, be sure to read Upkins book, Treat Me Like a Customer: Using Lessons from Work to Succeed in Life.