Curated and distributed into Work | Productivity
Good Hard Work vs. Bad Hard Work
Handling the delicate work-leisure balance can be challenging
These days everybody seems to be working hard or trying hard to work. If you don’t feel forced to work every day, or don’t feel overly glad to use work as a form of escapism, you might be one of the lucky few who are rightly balancing work and life.
Usually, we confuse bad hard work with good hard work. We push ourselves to reach our goals by working very hard until we start feeling an obsessive compulsion to work more. If we lose our enthusiasm due to long hours, we end up becoming workaholics. We see all the details, but we miss the big picture.
Bad hard work was termed as workaholism in 1968 by psychologist Wayne Oates. Workaholism may hurt our physical and psychological health as well as our family relations. Occasionally working long hours is not workaholism.
In good hard work, we don’t feel an obsessive compulsion to work, and we can restore our mind and body overnight by sleeping well. However, if we become workaholics, our risk of developing metabolic syndrome can significantly increase, according to Wharton management professor Nancy Rothbard.
As workaholics, we progressively start deriving lesser and lesser satisfaction from our work. As we increase working hours, we feel fatigued, stressed, sleepless, anxious, and unable to switch off. Our work habits may start hurting our spouses and our children if our bad romance with work continues.
We have to become aware of the problem first, and this is usually the toughest part. We can treat this obsession by reducing the number of work hours, finding a hobby, and making time for family and friends.
Work addiction is the best-dressed mental health problem. ~ Psychologist Bryan Robinson
Perfectionism and not trusting others to do a good job may be a root cause of workaholic tendencies. A bad economy might be another culprit.
As long as you are earning extra money with more work, and not doing it for psychological reasons or perfectionist tendencies, you may be okay. Dr. Marilyn Machlowitz says, in her book Workohalics, “A workaholic is motivated by “psychological income” which comes from responsibility, meaning, opportunity and recognition, not monetary income.”
Conclusions
Remember that bad hard work does not help you make more money, and also take note of the following:
- Do not unenthusiastically work for long hours.
- Workaholism kills creativity.
- It hurts your friends, family, and colleagues.
- Stop thinking and talking about work when you are not working.
- Make time for a hobby. Relax and meditate.
Reignite your inner flame.
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