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Workaholism
Do you live to work?
In these recessionary times, most people are just grateful to be in a job and to have any paid work. Sometimes though, work enthusiasm can go too far and end up taking over your life. Just as drinking socially can turn into alcoholism; hard work can turn into workaholism.
Workaholism is a very real issue. Like all addictions, it can cause a lot of pain.
What is workaholism?
- Workaholism can be defined as a strong compulsion to work, above and beyond normal work duties or work hours. It’s not just that a person with workaholism is a hard worker; they actually feel addicted to work and aren’t able to take a real break.
- Their whole life becomes about work. One of the saddest aspects of workaholism is that workers may spend hours and years working their asses off at their jobs, yet don’t actually achieve much. This is because they seem to concentrate more on hours at work, rather than on doing jobs properly.
- Workaholism is associated with low self esteem and low confidence, whereby workaholics use work to bolster their fragile self esteem. No matter how negatively their work affects their family and personal life, workaholics will just keep on working crazy hours, no matter what the negative consequences.
- According to one of the leading researchers in the field, Bryan Robinson PhD, the difference between hard workers and workaholics is balance. Hard workers work hard and enjoy their jobs, but also go off on holidays, socialise and have a good time. They think about work when they are at work, but when they have time off they are not still obsessed with it.
- Workaholics get a rush from their work and the long hours they spend at it. This is because when we are stressed or busy, the body produces adrenaline and adrenaline produces a type of ‘high’ feeling. For this reason, many workaholics gravitate towards high stress, high pressure jobs.
Signs of it?
According to Workaholics Anonymous, there are multiple signs of workaholism. Workaholics may relate to the following:
- You take work to bed with you or constantly work at the weekends.
- You take work with you on holidays.
- You constantly talk about work and little else.
- You work more than 40 hours per week – particularly by choice.
- Family and friends know you will constantly be late and expect you to let them down when meeting up.
- You can’t relate to people who have other priorities in life besides work.
- You worry about your work future constantly, even when work is going well.
- You get annoyed when people ask you to stop working in order to do something else.
- Your long hours have upset your family and friends and strained your relationships with them.
- You think about work when you are walking, driving, eating or trying to sleep.
- You work during your meals.
- You hide the fact that you are working from others. You tell your girlfriend that you are reading while you are really working on a document, for example.
- You are not able to share work with your colleagues - you think you can do everything yourself.
How can it negatively affect your life?
Workaholism can erode your life in a variety of ways:
- Your health. Studies show that workaholics may experience mental health problems such as depression and anxiety as well as physical problems such as digestive disorders, headaches and insomnia.
- Your relationships. After a while your friends and family will get sick of playing second fiddle to a job. They will get tired of being let down over and over and of the workaholic’s constant obsession with work. They may also bear the brunt of the workaholic’s frustration when he is away from work.
- Your work. Ironically workaholics aren’t typically good workers. They often do not perform well and have big problems with team work and delegation. Thus, they can be quite inefficient at their jobs and not actually perform well.
How to get help?
As with all addictions, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Look through the Workaholics Anonymous literature and see if any of it resonates with you. If you want to get help, contact Workaholics Anonymous for a list of meetings near you. If there are none you can start up your own chapter. You could also attend a private counsellor.
Further Information:
