INTRODUCTION
Why did I choose to write about workaholics? The main reason is that the general picture about these people is bad, but there are a lot of them around us and very often we admire them. They are doing exactly what they love – work – and they can never have enough of it. Although they spend most of their time working, surprisingly they are happy. They show so good results in what they do. But the consequences are great. Family life is disrupted, intellectual horizons narrow and the consequences to the workaholic's health are severe: fat, lack of exercise and stress. Why do people become workaholics? When a person becomes workaholic is there a way back? How should people around him act in order to keep both him and themselves happy? Lets start explaining what workaholics are, how they act and then we'll get answers to this questions.
WHAT AND WHO ARE WORKAHOLICS?
The definition of workaholism from a dictionary would be someone who has a compulsion to work all time and a workaholic is someone who loves to work or who is addicted to work. How can this people work throughout the whole day and be happy and never tired knowing that they sleep only for 4-5 hours a day. Perhaps the main reason for this is that people evaluate themselves more on measurable things such as personal achievements and financial worth – not emotional wellness. People often tend to feel guilty if they are not constantly being productive, as they tend to consider relaxation a waste of precious time. They need work to feel good. Workaholics are people who put the work on first place. Usually they need to prove themselves to the their colleagues or their bosses so they would praise them. Sometimes workaholism occurs because the person works to avoid the pain. Workaholism is addiction and all addictions are in a way avoidance of pain. They work just to cover the pain and not deal with it. Some of the workaholics became what they are because of greed. They can never have enough so they want to work as much as possible. Sometimes the hard workers are being referred as workaholics. While hard workers are ready to work some extra time to finish a project or to meet a deadline, the workaholic uses all his extra time to work. Workaholics don’t have hobbies except if they are related to the job such as golf games with business partners. Everybody thinks tha...
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...usiness phone calls the workaholic will make [none can not be at the beginning, but after certain period of time if the whole procedure goes over and over again that can be established].
HOW CAN WORKAHOLIC TURN BACK TO NORMAL?
All the methods offered for overwhelming workaholism are either group therapy or self-improvement courses. Both are based on describing what workaholism is, and how dangerous it can be for the entities. Also differentiating the hard working from workaholism. The two courses also tend to make the workaholics reasonable answers to questions like: How much is really enough for me? How long do I usually rest and is this enough? Is what I’m exchanging my life worth it? What summer vacations are for? And maybe the most important: What am I trying to prove and to whom I want to prove myself? Making the workaholic aware of what he has become and what is he actually doing is the first step to turn the person away from his addictiveness and make him get back to track and work normally.
Reference:
“Workaholics” – Marilyn Machlowitz
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“Journal of Applied Psychology” Nr.60
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“The truth about burnouts” – Christina Maslach, Michael P. Leiter
Marks, L. (2006). The Loss of Leisure in a Culture of Overwork. Spirit of Change Magazine.
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