Works constantly, can't stop
Emails at midnight, on Sundays and on holiday. They can't get through dinner without checking the phone.
Rule out first
A short crunch. Money pressure. An early founder phase. Real love of the work.
What could explain it
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: They love it, can rest when they decide to, and their health and relationships aren't suffering.
Workaholism: Compulsive: guilt or anxiety when not working, life outside work shrinking, and they work even when it no longer helps the result.
Experiential avoidance: Work keeps something away; on day two of a holiday, grief, anxiety or a marriage problem surfaces.
Hypomanic (manic) character: Revved up with little sleep and great output, then an occasional crash they don't talk about.
Conditions of worth (Rogers): Rest feels like being worth less; they apologise for taking a day off and fill it with tasks.
A next move
Watch them on a real break. Content means motivation; restless and guilty means compulsion or worth; low or tearful means work was holding something back.
If it’s you
What happens in me on the second day of doing nothing?