7+ reasons why it’s better to be a workaholic before you turn 22, and I’m glad I did

After turning 30, I realized how helpful it was when I decided to become workaholic as early as 18 years old.

Contrary to the popular trend of self-care, looking back after turning 30, I was so glad I was overworked before I turned 22. If not for my efforts done 10 years ago, I wouldn’t be in a better place than I am now. So every time I am asked for advice by the “Twen-teens,” I tell them to choose the hard work and consider overworking. Unless you have medical issues to deal with at that age, health is quite easier to manage while you’re young (as long as you don’t stretch yourself to death.)

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But when is one workaholic?

For me, it was juggling being a full-time student in the University while working part-time for 2–3 more jobs and still attending to household chores either living alone or with my family. It is a mix of being an assistant or clerical role to a job or industry I look forward to working regularly in the future. Although taking cleaning jobs is not so bad as it will teach you lessons and skills that are best sharpened by such task, if given a choice, always pick being the underpaid assistant while you still complete your proper credentials. I have worked as a professor’s research assistant on an urgent project, a marketing assistant and sole marketing staff of our university’s newly re-opened radio station, taught English to foreigners via online classes, took Video Editing projects from students who need it for their group reports, among many other side gigs. So what are these life-changing reasons to consider why you should overwork while you are young?

1. Your knowledge of technology is updated and you can easily learn new ones

In this day and age, the flexibility and adaptability to new and changing technology is undoubtedly a star qualification on hiring staff right now. The good thing about being between 18–22 is that you have the youth that brings the curiosity and higher hunger to learning while being legal enough to manage and have access to some of these technologies from either work or university.

Moreover, technology is one of the biggest drivers of change in how we do business nowadays.

Once a business transitions, the 22-you will be one of those who can benefit from the learning curve especially now that you can adapt to it faster than the more senior employees. This skill becomes more valuable as you progress your career once you hit 30.

2. Your back won’t hurt as often, even if you don’t and never have been to the gym

Nothing is more envious to the youth than that of their physical stamina without the need to put in much work (except for professional athletes and stuntmen.) As I embark on the world of marketing, I felt how my body has slowly degraded through the years approaching my 30th. Although I have not gone through any professional training or gym supervision, I was able to complete a half marathon and spend consecutive sleepless nights when I was 24 with better energy levels than when I was 28.

When I was 20, I explored TV production internships, exploited my capacity to do more, run as many errands, and realized how heavy the workload was, literally! and that helped me tick it out of my list of the career options I used to dream of pursuing, Film and TV Production work. I salute those people behind the scenes!

Overworking on physically challenging work at an early age can help you assess if this is something you find joy doing especially when the going gets tough.

Because whether or not we admit, once stress gets to us, it gets the best of us and there is no better gift than figuring out which ones are the stress we find worth going through for and which aren’t.

3. Sleep is better when you’re younger but you won’t be needing it as much

One of the most discussed challenges in the working class, based on my personal experience, is fatigue. However, younger workers don’t mind this as much and can even go partying all night and working all morning. Although I was struggling to sleep easily during my 20s, it was not as bad as now that I am 30. The anxieties, fears, and other concerns are not as complicated and not as challenging to mentally process. Admittedly, there is less pressure, more self-love, fewer expectations, and more confidence in your 20s than once you turn 30.

I was 25 when my 2nd hospitalization relating to work stress happened.

I had an anxiety attack while boarding the train going to work, blacked out, and sent myself to the emergency room as soon as I could (I was living alone back then.) I recuperated after 4days and declined the surgery suggested as I told the doctor to see if I could lessen the stress first and see if symptoms get better and it did. I had another work-stress-related hospitalization when I was 28 and the recuperation was harder. It was a milder symptom and yet sleeping didn’t immediately address the problem. I took an additional few more days after discharge just to be sure I have regained strength. By then I started minimizing the projects and making myself more valuable with lesser projects on my plate.

4. You have the brainpower to handle multiple projects happening simultaneously

As much as we would like to deny it, senior employees (in terms of age) would always tell the younger ones that they are always multitasking, may it be a compliment or not. Regardless, this is quite an excellent skill if done properly, in ensuring productivity, efficiency, and impact are attained simultaneously.

When you explore how you do whenever you multitask, you train your brain to decipher better between priorities and consequences. This becomes a valuable skill especially once you handle a leadership role or project management. How to know if you are multitasking properly? learn more about it what it takes to get it done well here.

5. You will make mistakes but your youth can make it up to it

“You’re still young and the world is your oyster,”

…this was what my boss told me during our last meeting as I left my position as a Category Manager at the age of 25. The mistakes I have done during that time and the years prior were more forgivable because as the management would always debate, “she’s still young that’s why she made those decisions.” As much as I would want to be responsible and accountable, some lessons can only be learned by experience, not by the years but by the encounters and level of impact.

What about the mistakes that need correcting?

Other than having more elders to guide you and help you, the stress, energy, attention, mental and emotional strain to get things done is more manageable. Trust me. I once got into a legal battle as a young entrepreneur at 28 that led me to bail myself out of jail. And this was what my cousin told me who was a senior lawyer and a decade older than I am, that if it were his client who was 40 yrs old, that guy would have had a heart attack already with how the case turned out. I eventually won the legal battle and am now more knowledgeable, confident, and at the same time more calculating in my decision-making after turning 30 and going through it and more.

6. You are better equipped once you face the dreaded quarter-life crisis

As much as we’d like to skip through it, the quarter-life crisis cannot be dodged and is bound to come and happen. Whether it be early into the quarter or a little later, it sure isn’t anywhere between 18–22. During this sweet spot, you can explore various career types, lifestyles, locations, dynamics, and more. The opportunity to overwork gives you a chance to glance, gain first-hand experience, and arrive at a more informed decision on which path you are more comfortable exploring. This decision may not be your final career path but at the very least it helps you manage the anxiety of where you want to be during your quarter-life crisis.

Being overworked can also allow you to learn more about yourself in managing stress and pressure.

What for?

Because a decade later, challenges will push your limits whether or not you are up to it so might as well get a “trial period” years before.

7. All the learning and struggles will pay off in the later stages of your career

Aside from the number of months or years of work experience, you also gain the confidence needed in presenting yourself for a higher-paying position, better opportunities, or more options to choose from. With more soft skills as well technical skills learned both from related and non-related work experiences, you may present yourself with more selling points and higher probabilities of landing your dream job faster.

“Fortune favors the Bold”

-Virgil, Roman Poet (c. 19 BC)

I found myself applying for a job that required 5 years of work experience when it has only been 2 years since I graduated from the university. I told them that I have done several jobs while still in the university which have taught me a lot of skills and can also, technically, total to 5years of work experience. Guess what I got the job! And it was from a company that denied me of internship years ago via email because although they did not have any job posting about internships, I insisted via email and was told they don’t hire interns.

Then on I told myself, “one day! they will not be able to resist my qualification for a job,” and viola! I GOT HIRED!… and oh! no one remembered my email about the internship there.

One of the most valuable lessons I earned from being a workaholic was a sharpened decision-making process. It became useful not just in leadership roles but towards self and family as well. Soft skills like these are best learned by experience and you don’t have to wait for the opportunity but instead make one for yourself… by overworking or taking more opportunities or projects than being locked into just one.

8. You can focus on yourself, your mistakes, correcting them, and your growth with no children, baby, family, or elderly to think about

If you think the young have the most distractions, wait until you hit 30 or have your own family or at the very least become the head of the household. Once you are faced with additional responsibilities other than your own (whether with life partner and/or pets) focus is no longer the same. Most of all priorities change. And once your priorities change, the way you decide changes and your career might take a step back.

When I got confronted with motherhood and married life before I hit 30, I was so happy I was workaholic when I was younger simply because I could push back with my career yet not feel left out and delayed.

Overworking at a later time in my life also felt more lim1ited. Aside from changed priorities, physical capacity and stamina are lower, mental health needs more attention as relationships evolve, and a whole lot more changes.

Bottom line, the time between 18–22 years old is the sweet spot between having job opportunities, the energy of your youth, the time available to correct mistakes before life catches up with you, less pressure ( because it’s just a prelude to a quarter-life crisis), money and focus are still at a different level of priority.

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