Workaholism or just hard work?

Poles are known as hard working people, but are we born workaholics? While we actually do work as hard as we can, we like to take holidays just to work even more (restore our apartments, refresh gardens or help neighbors moving). In Japan, karoshi is a common term meaning "death by overwork", and is estimated to cause 1000 deaths per year, that’s almost 5% of the country's stroke and heart attack deaths among employees under the age of 60. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, there has been observed "leisure illness", a condition which result in physical sickness at weekends and on vacations, when workers are trying to relax. Sounds familiar?

                                                                     

So what is exactly the difference between being a workaholic and a hard working person?

Basically it's the balance in life, where a hard working person can achieve his/her goals and keep his/her job off their life when relaxing. A hard worker will do his job while thinking of resting, while a workaholic will relax while thinking of his job. It's the obsession of work, which is common for most "-holisms", like alcoholism is about  being obsessed with drinking, relatively, workaholism is being obsessed with working.

Here's a little list of things which describes workaholics¹:

• A person takes work with him home and is engage in work during weekends and vacations. 
• The only activity that he likes is talking about his work.
• Workaholics work more than 40 hours a week. 
• Work makes them happier than anything else in their life. 
• Playtime is a big waste of time for them.
• They frequently find themselves "solving" work situations in their mind during their "time off".
• Normally workaholics take complete responsibility for the outcome of their work efforts. 
• Their family or friends do not expect them on time. 
• Many workaholics are energetic and competitive person at work , while at home they are lethargic and depressed. 
• Normally they take on extra work because they are concerned that it won't otherwise get done. 
• They believe that it is okay to work long hours. 
• They get impatient with people who have other priorities besides work. 
• Many workaholics are afraid that if they don't work hard they will lose their job or be a failure. 
• They are worried even though things are getting well. 
• They get irritated when people ask them to stop doing their work in order to do something else.
• They do not care they hurt their family or destroy their  relationships spending time mostly at work. 
• They always think about their work while driving, falling asleep or when others are talking. 
• Some workaholics have a tendency to work or read during meals.

If you have answered yes to most of these questions, you may be a workaholic. What then? There are a few ways to get yourself back into health again. First of all , you have to step back and draw a line between work and your personal life, determine your goals for the whole life (not only work goals) and identify actions required to achieve them. Then try to stick to a few simple rules:

Manage your time better:

Review your current work hours, check your priorities. Why do you have to work so much? Where can you spend your time better? If your boss pushes you too hard, try to talk to him, inform his about your needs and concerns.

Don't be perfectionist:

Determine if the level of quality you require from yourself is adequate to results, remember nobody's perfect and sometimes a product will never be finished until it’s perfect, that may save you a lot of time for your personal life.

Don't eat lunch at your desk every day:

Take a break, eat in peace. Those emails can wait, go outside, take a breath.

Learn to be assertive:

Sometimes it's better to say no, know your limits and respect your work. Sometimes doing too much may result not only in workaholism but also in the drop of quality.

Work at home:

If you spend too much time in the office try to start working from home, it may be an easy way to bring your personal life back. Of course it's not possible everywhere, but worth a try.

Use your free time:

If you're a workaholic you've got to have a lot of free days collected on your account, try to use them on a regular basis. Even the knowledge of upcoming holidays will make you feel better, and coming back refreshed after a break will make you more productive. Work hard, but play hard as well.

Questions:

1. Do you consider yourself a hard working person or a workaholic?

2. Do you know any workaholics? What do you think of them?

Sources:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201203/workaholism-and-the-myth-hard-work

http://fatherhood.about.com/od/workingfathers/a/workaholism.htm

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51425

http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/workaholism

http://www.charminghealth.com/applicability/workaholism.htm

http://www.usmansheikh.com/success-factors/workaholics-anonymous - pic1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/jul/21/workandcareers - pic2

¹ courtesy of www.charminghealth.com