About Hard Work And Workaholism

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Workaholism is a person's excessive passion for work. Even when there is no need for work. Even if this hobby goes to the detriment of personal life, it leads to exhaustion and all sorts of diseases. Stopping a workaholic is as difficult as ripping an alcoholic off a bottle.

The comparison of workaholism with alcoholism is no coincidence: both are addictions. It's just that a person does not always suffer from a painful addiction to chemicals (for example, to alcohol or drugs). There are also non-chemical forms of addiction: from a computer, gambling, dieting, shopping, sports and exercise, a loved one or … yes, from work. In the latter case, they talk about workaholism.

It used to be thought that working hard was good, and the more you do it, the better. Thanks to this belief, workaholism has become not just an addiction, but a socially approved addiction. However, later it turned out that the case smelled like kerosene. Indeed, contrary to popular myths, workaholism does not always make a person successful, let alone healthy and happy.

Some psychologists believe that workaholism is a latent form of suicide. And it's hard to argue with them: after all, such a person really destroys himself both physically and psychologically.

Signs of workaholism

For a workaholic, work is not a part of life, but its meaning. It replaces friendship, personal relationships, hobbies, and other activities. When love for one's work turns into addiction, the following features appear in a person's behavior and thinking:

- a workaholic regularly stays at work, takes things home;

- a person cannot stop himself in "doing": he is not able to separate working hours from non-working hours. He doesn't have a full weekend with his phone and / or computer turned off;

- what the workaholic calls "rest" also has to do with work. For example, he "rests" reading professional literature;

- if such a person does not work, then he feels emptiness and dissatisfaction;

- a workaholic does not understand the meaning of rest. Time for sleep, entertainment, communication with family and friends seems to him wasted;

- conversations not about work seem boring and empty to a person;

- Come home from work only the body. The head still solves work tasks, it cannot switch from work to home in any way;

- energy, burst of energy and inspiration are caused exclusively by professional activity. Other areas of life do not evoke such feelings;

- a workaholic does not know how to celebrate a victory, rejoice at the completion of some business: he immediately thinks about the next working day;

- activities of an entertaining nature cause neglect and irritation;

- failure at work is perceived as a disaster;

- such a person suffers from his own perfectionism, is very worried about whether he has fulfilled his duties perfectly enough.

Following these signs, others appear. Over time, such a person, of course, earns chronic fatigue, irritability (the body is working at the limit, so it reacts with or without reason). Then there are problems with sleep: a workaholic either does not fall asleep, or he sleeps too much on rare days off (or hours) for him, and after waking up he still feels overwhelmed. Not far off he will have difficulty concentrating (goodbye, the myth of the effectiveness of workaholics), and problems with the gastrointestinal tract and the cardiovascular system.

The most annoying thing is that the workaholic goes out of his way not to pay due attention to his deteriorating state. Well, he has no time to go to the doctors and lie down on vacation! That is, he will, of course, do it, he is a reasonable person. But a little later. When all business is over (= never). By the way, workaholics are constantly in this illusion: that a little more, and it will be easier. Literally one or two weeks in such an intense mode, and then … and then it does not come.

Even when workaholism launches its powerful roots not only in the human psyche, but also in his body, the person shrugs off his symptoms. When it is no longer possible not to pay attention to oneself, the workaholic tries to heal all this with pills, so that it is faster. Of course, it’s better for him, if he does, then for a short while: no pills will help to restore strength in the way that the long-awaited rest for the body will do. But in order to make a workaholic rest or at least stop on time, the body has to throw out something more abruptly. It is depleted to such a state that a workaholic begins nervous breakdowns, panic attacks, depression, or such a cosmic breakdown that our worker cannot even get up. If you can't catch it even with this, then extremely serious diseases are triggered in the body. This is the only way the body can force the workaholic to stop torturing himself. True, sometimes it is too late …

What makes people so dependent on work that they destroy themselves in such a way?

For one person, this is a way to get away from problems in other areas of life, which he is afraid to solve or does not want to solve.

For another, it is a way to fill the inner emptiness that covers him headlong, as soon as he is left alone with himself.

The third person grew up in a family where they praised, supported and loved only for good grades and success in school, and everyone did not care about the child's other experiences (so he learned to be indifferent to himself for the sake of the cause).

For the fourth person, success at work has become a way of increasing self-esteem and getting rid of complexes: even if he feels insignificant and unsuccessful in other areas, but then he is loved, praised, admired. So he gets rid of the constant feeling that he is somehow wrong, unnecessary, invaluable and generally defective. He kind of justifies his own existence.

The fifth person is not familiar with the word "I want", but he knows the words "must" and "must" very well. He can devote time and energy to others, but not to himself. This is how he got used to, this is how he was once taught to relate to himself. Taking care of himself seems to him to be something of little importance.

Unfortunately, sometimes we need to almost kill ourselves in order to truly value our life, health, and psychological well-being.

Or maybe it's not that bad?

For the sake of fairness, I must say that in our time, working a lot is a variant of the age norm. For a modern person, it is natural to devote the first third of his life to professional development, achieving financial stability, and getting an education. But only the first third. Normally, a thirty-year crisis is needed for us to switch to other areas of life. In the case of age-related workaholism, it goes something like this.

You liked to work tirelessly, you were proud of your successes, lack of sleep, perfectionism and, of course, the material fruits of hard work. He filled the need for wealth, toys, cars, status things, and then … something happened. And all this has ceased to be so important. Not that I was completely disappointed in my work, but I definitely understood that it was no longer worth giving so much of myself. And the fiftieth luxury handbag pleases much less than the first … and then you start looking for what is more important. You sharply learn to take care of yourself, to observe a mode of sleep and rest (especially if you received a magic pendel from the body). You remember your friends and loved ones: you want to spend your evenings not in the office, but on your pens.

It turns out that love for work is an absolutely normal thing as long as this passion does not manifest itself for too long or too much. Those who did not listen in time to the body, screaming "wait, steam locomotive" - earn illness, lose the ability to build close relationships and often end up disappointed in their business. And who switched on time and did not give too much of himself to work - they received both professionalism and a slightly beaten, but still mental balance