Some of the strongest personality correlations around workaholism are traits like having a Type A personality, being motivated by achievements, or being a perfectionist. Another misconception is that if you love your job, you must be a workaholic.
In fact, people who have high work engagement—a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind—are probably not workaholics. Engaged workers are driven to work because they find it intrinsically pleasurable—they truly enjoy it—while workaholics are driven to work because they feel an inner compulsion to do so. The impact of that difference is clear. In one of my research studies , we found that workaholism was related to feeling more guilt, anxiety, anger, and disappointment—both at work and at home—whereas high work engagement was related to feeling more joviality, attentiveness, and self-assurance again, both at work and home.
Research overwhelmingly supports the idea that workaholism has negative personal consequences. In , I led a comprehensive meta-analysis summarizing the findings of 89 primary studies, and found workaholism was related to lower job, family, and life satisfaction as well as worse physical and mental health.
In a more recent study , researchers found workaholism was linked to higher systolic blood pressure and greater levels of mental distress one year later.
Actually, the research shows this is a myth. Workaholics needlessly double-down with more hours instead of investing in building efficiency. Workaholics fail to realize the effects their habits have on their coworkers and staff. Workaholics have a poor work-life balance. Workaholics develop obsessive, perfectionistic tendencies. Workaholics suffer from high levels of stress and burnout. How to Overcome Workaholism If the effects of workaholism are so negative, why do people become workaholics?
Here are some tips for overcoming workaholism : Be rigid about your business hours. Many workaholics tend to check their work email from home, disrupting their time off and carrying work stress into their evenings. Learn to say no. If you have too much on your plate, be honest before taking on new responsibilities. Ask yourself is this request the highest and best use of my talents.
Embrace efficiency. Engaged workaholics reported receiving more social support e. They also scored higher on communication skills, time management skills, and general work skills, and they reported much higher intrinsic motivation for work than non-engaged workaholics. We think that this arsenal of resources may help engaged workaholics prevent initial health complaints from developing into more severe health risks.
The doctor did a general health check, and as Linda suspected, the results did not reveal any concerns in terms of physiological health. But her doctor referred her to a counselor to work on the sleep problems Linda mentioned during the check-up. Michael has an obsessive work mentality, and he does not enjoy his work, which causes ongoing stress and frustration, frequent anxiety attacks and feelings of depression, and also elevated risk for cardiovascular disease.
Linda has a similar compulsive work mentality, but she loves her job and reports having a supportive family. While she experiences some sleep issues and headaches, she does not have an elevated risk for cardiovascular diseases. These stories and our research findings reveal two key messages: First, when it comes to effects on health, working long hours is not as bad as obsessing over work.
But this warrants an important disclaimer: The employees in our sample worked a maximum of 65 hours per week, and therefore we do not know the health outcomes of working longer hours.
It may be quite difficult to detach from work, engage in recovery activities, or get enough sleep if one works 70 hours per week or more. Still, it seems that more than hours, our thoughts and feelings about work impact our subjective well-being and health risks. The second key message from our study is that workaholics who love their jobs are somewhat protected from the most severe health risks, and this may be because they feel that their work is worth all the hard work they put in.
But this brings up another caveat: Although we found that engaged workaholics had lower physiological health risks lower RMS than non-engaged workaholics, they still reported more depressive feelings, sleep problems, various psycho-somatic health complaints, and a higher need for recovery than non-workaholics.
These are all signs that well-being among workaholics, regardless of how much they love their job, can be impaired. Our research suggests some potential solutions to help keep stress levels manageable and prevent health risks. The first step is to acknowledge when a relationship to work is unhealthy — when it feels out of control and is undermining outside relationships. The next step is to regain control over your work behavior.
One way to do this is by setting clear rules for how many hours you will work each day. Taking up enjoyable non-work activities, such as seeing friends, watching a movie, reading a book, or learning a new skill, can also help you psychologically detach from work.
It can also be useful to reflect on the reasons why you work excessively and compulsively. We found a striking difference in work motivation between engaged and non-engaged workaholics.
Workaholics work because they have nothing else to take its place. Their work addiction is a recurring obsession, and typically joyless. These days too many people are being labeled or labeling themselves "workaholics" just for putting in a few extra hours per week. The truth is that in this poor economy, many of these people are working extra hard just to keep their jobs. Real workaholics have few if any outside interests.
They let their family lives fall apart. They often have health problems and suffer from depression and deep insecurities.
Many would like to stop, but find it difficult or impossible to do so. Workaholics should not be confused with people who are simply hard workers, love their jobs and go the extra mile to finish a project. By contrast, a workaholic is someone who constantly thinks about work, and without work feels anxious and depressed.
Workaholics are difficult to get along with, because they frequently push others as hard as they push themselves.
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