Everyday Musings > Work. Work. Work.

I'm surrounded by workaholics. H is wedded to his cell phone, R to his con calls, N to his desk, M to her home and D to his laptop. Even after work's done, they're constantly thinking of work. And are never quite there in the conversation. But if I ever confront them about it, they tell me there's no way out. When there's work, there's work. But I worry because there always seems to be work.

Who really is a workaholic? I googled to find out. One self test suggests that one must observe one's behaviour outside of work to figure it out. Do you start a lot of work related conversations with other people? Do you constantly speak of the poor performance of your co-workers or boss? Do you have problems sleeping well because you're always thinking of work related things? Do you find yourself driving by your workplace during off hours or weekends? If you said yes to one or more, you're a workaholic or getting there really fast.

But there is a difference between a workaholic and a motivated person. A motivated worker loves his work but also loves his life, so post work enjoys without thinking about work. A workaholic finds his/her identity in his/her job and never lets go the workplace unless to take a long break from it. Work is always on his/her mind and he/she has difficulty dividing work life from home life.

In Japan, workaholism is considered a serious social problem leading to early death, often on the job and even has a phenomenon named after it - karōshi. The fatal stroke suffered by Prime Minister of Japan Keizo Obuchi was blamed on overwork.

Gayle Porter, associate professor at Rutgers, says that most workaholics are either perfectionists or have a need for control or both. But it could also be an escape, from relationships and commitments, with work often stated as the excuse to avoid issues in life. And although they're known as perfectionists, it's not that they accomplish more than people who work fewer hours. Sometimes workaholics get so fixated with details that they find it hard to move onto the next task and are often inefficient.

Porter adds that 'If the workaholic is a manager, he/she may expect long hours from subordinates, may force them to try to meet impossible standards, then rush in to save the day when the work is deemed substandard. The person may look like a hero, coming in to solve crisis after crisis, when in fact the crises could have been avoided. Sometimes, the workaholic may have unwittingly created the problems to provide the endless thrill of more work'.

When I look around me, I see so many who fit this description, happy go lucky friends who've turned work horses and often feel guilty for not having done enough in a day. Work seems to become an anchor, a way to judge how life is going. Like R says, if you put in effort into your work, you'll get great results, but you never know if efforts will yield anything in a relationship. So the more you work, the more your return on investment.

That worries me. Workaholism may work for most people I know. But somehow the logic doesn't work for me.