In our video today we talk about being a workaholic.

Is being a workaholic a good thing or does it mean that you need an intervention and a 12-step program?

As a Productivity speaker I get out in and about and I meet a lot of people. Some of these people describe themselves to me as workaholics. Tthey treat it like a badge of honor to work 60 to 120 hours a week.

But I don’t feel that way.

The word -aholic on the end of work means addicted to. This means workaholics are addicted to work. That’s not a healthy thing.

One of my clients was a lawyer built himself up from nothing coming to our country from India. But he had worked for so long and so hard he couldn’t relax and he felt if he stopped everything he built would be gone. So he would find himself getting up on a Sunday morning and going into work because he didn’t know how to live life with his wife and his children.

That’s not a healthy thing.

I know people who’ve retired and don’t know how to handle being retired and so even though they don’t need the money they go back to work.

So let’s stop treating workaholics as being as a badge of honor as a being a good thing and let’s stop selling stop celebrating cultures that push people to work 60 to 120 hours a week. Becausee we know working these hours isn’t effective – it just burns people out.

Need help with work/life balance? Contact me.