Is It Wrong To Be a Workaholic?

The term “workaholic” carries a negative connotation, and rightly so in many circumstances.

Working too much is linked to increased stress levels, decreased workplace productivity, strained relationships, and an unhealthy work-life balance.

However, many of us produce our greatest work when we are under a lot of pressure.

Some of our most cherished career highlights would not have occurred if we all drew the line at 5 p.m.

Or if we had closed up shop the minute the day was done.

We probably wouldn’t get half as much done if we weren’t pushing ourselves so hard.

Maybe you’re a workaholic, or maybe you’re just an extremely hard worker.

It’s natural to believe that this work ethic is typical, that the number of hours you put into anything determines your success and is the “real” measure of your commitment to succeeding.

After all, that’s what successful people did: they worked all the time.

Long hours and a lack of work-life balance were prices for progress and a decent paycheck.

Who is a Workaholic?

Wayne Oates, a preacher and psychologist, created the term workaholism in 1971.

He described it as “the drive or the uncontrollable need to work endlessly.”

Workaholism study has been hampered by conflicts about defining and assessing the construct since then.

Workaholism, for example, is defined as work addiction, a disease, a behaviour pattern that endures across numerous organizational settings, and a syndrome characterized by strong motivation, high job participation, and low work enjoyment. 

The long and short is that a workaholic works incessantly.

Even if it means sacrificing personal connections and fundamental health needs.

While “workaholism” is not a medical term, it is closely linked to stress, burnout, impulse control challenges, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Being a workaholic implies prioritizing work over other activities and giving it a top priority all of the time.

It might imply the difference between being engaged and being addicted to the workplace.

As a result, you may be less prepared for the next day, both physically and emotionally.

There are workplaces that reward the hardest workers rather than the most productive.

But if you focus on having a more realistic attitude toward work, you can do more and advance your career.

Read: Living with Purpose: Finding Meaning and Direction in Life

How Workaholism Affects Personal Life and Career

Below are a few reasons workaholism is adversely affecting you and your career:

It deteriorates the quality of your work

While spending more time at your desk may make you feel like you’re accomplishing more, you may be actually accomplishing less.

You’ll waste excessive time at your desk and have very low productivity if you don’t allow your brain to shift focus and enjoy leisure, exercise, and time away from your emails.

Long hours can also induce mental exhaustion, impairing your problem-solving ability and attention to detail.

When you take a break from an issue, your capacity to solve it when you return is substantially improved.

Taking a break allows you to return refreshed and more capable of completing your activities more efficiently and successfully.

Read: Mental Health and Work: Strategies for Managing Workplace Stress

It harms your creativity

You miss out on opportunities to read, keep up with current events, and meet new people if you spend most of your time at work.

As a result, you’ll not only miss out on new business and networking chances but also limit your ability to think creatively.

You might discover that by spending time away from the office and indulging in a range of pastimes, the solution to that business problem you’ve been pondering comes more readily.

It can damage your ability to delegate

One of the drawbacks of working long hours all of the time is that it can impair your ability to delegate.

When assigned responsibilities, you may be able to delegate some of them to others so that you may focus on the most essential ones.

But the attitude of “if a job is worth doing, do it yourself” can make you progressively insular.

The ability to delegate is essential for many elements of job success and is especially significant in management roles.

It is critical that you cultivate this skill. Don’t let workaholism stand in the way of your goals!

Read: The Importance of Self-Care for Work-Life Balance

You lose the ability to say NO

Another common mistake made by workaholics is accepting any task that is offered to them.

While it’s necessary to be adaptable, saying yes to every request can result in an unreasonably big backlog of activities.

The trouble with being known as someone who will always accept things is that people will throw work at you without thinking about your requirements.

That’s because they know you’ll accept anything.

Unfortunately, the tasks are unlikely to match your desired experience or expertise.

Taking on everything places your ambitions at the bottom of the priority list.

But many workaholics fall into this trap.

You will burn-out

What goes up must come down, which is one of the inevitabilities of workaholics.

According to Dr Esther Sternberg, the same areas of the brain that govern stress also play a role in susceptibility to certain disorders.

As a result, the stress you put yourself through at work, in addition to the regular issues of lack of sleep and generally unhealthy behaviours, can really make you sick.

Jack becomes a bored boy if he spends all of his time working.

It also harms Jack’s mental and physical well-being.

When you’re sick, you’re never going to work at your best, which could contribute to absenteeism.

Read: Embracing the Remote Work Revolution: Tips for Staying Connected and Motivated

Final Thoughts

Although “workaholic” is sometimes used lightheartedly to characterize highly motivated employees, true workaholism is a severe problem.

Workaholics don’t get more work done than other employees.

Instead, they suffer more as a result of their dysfunctional work relationship.

They work hard rather than smart.

If you notice yourself participating in workaholic tendencies, establish clear guidelines for how much you work.

You should also fill non-work hours with stimulating activities that allow you to divert your attention away from your work obligations.

According to studies, workaholics are also more extrinsically motivated (by things like salary and status) than intrinsically motivated.

If you take a step back and ask yourself why you work, you might be able to shake off some of your workaholic tendencies.

Before You Go…

Hey, thank you for reading this blog post to the end. I hope it was helpful. Let me tell you a little bit about Nicholas Idoko Technologies.

We help businesses and companies build an online presence by developing web, mobile, desktop, and blockchain applications.

We also help aspiring software developers and programmers learn the skills they need to have a successful career.

Take your first step to becoming a programming expert by joining our Learn To Code academy today!

Be sure to contact us if you need more information or have any questions! We are readily available.