NikithaRavi: “Hey What’s up? What plans for weekend?”
Rohan: “ Nothing yaar. I have some office work to do.”
Ravi: “ Don’t you need a break”
Rohan: “ I do. But work is more important”
Is work really more important than taking a break ? Are they really after work? Or are they escaping reality by immersing themselves in work? Is he after work for the love for it? Or is he after it expecting something in return?
Excessive of anything is bad. Same applies for work too.
1) Depression:
According to author of stumbling on Happiness, we need to change the variety or space the same thing to increase happiness. If you are working on the weekend too, there is neither variety nor spacing. It starts with lack of happiness. Then transforms into sadness and finally you end up in depression.
2) Escaping from reality:
One day my colleague told me about a friend of his who asks for more work so that he can stay in office for a few more hours. He used to extend in office because he found that better than going back home and watching TV serials with his wife. Similarly, if you are working too much think if you are trying to escape from reality.
3) Recheck your productivity levels:
When I was in my first company, a lot of people used to extend because they used to take long breaks during the day or wait for the last minute panic mode for creativity. They were looking like workaholics because they were not managing time properly. If you have not planned your work properly, you will only end up working long hours doing what is not necessary.
4) Are you efficient?
One of my colleagues spent the entire night in office because he did not know how to write loops. When put in a loop the work he did for 8 hours could have been done in one hour. If you are working for too long, question the methodology to see if you can optimize.
5) You will feel burned out in a few years:
In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg wrote that according to a Mckinsey report, the people who quit office were those who did not use their vacation leaves. The ones who climb up the career ladder know that being workaholics does not help them succeed in life. My friend who is a top performer in his office takes one day off after every big project he does. That is his way to
be productive.
be productive.
6) Your life will be only in one dimension:
You grow only in terms of work. A human being has to grow in all dimensions and not just in work. He needs to have a family life and a healthy social circle.
7) Affects health:
Workaholics tend to be the ones who become smokers, alcoholics. They are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension. One of the top level people I knew who earnt a few crores per year got a brain problem all of a sudden. What was the whole point in he working so hard?
Even I used to have frequent migraine attacks when I was working 14 hours a day.
Working hard and working smart are two different things in life. Learn to work smart and then hard. Not the other way round.
Happy working effectively!
[…] you are looking for motivation to stop being a workaholic, here is an article I wrote a few years […]