Why we overwork and how to fix it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The downside to procrastination is workaholism. We have learned to perceive laziness as a disease, but we consider workaholism normal and not worthy of attention. And in vain, workaholics suffer more than lazy people, and we will try to understand why.

We often write about how to overcome laziness and procrastination. We refer to research, scientific approaches and try to explain the mechanics of this "disease" in simple terms. But we forget about another problem. It is not so common, and many do not even consider it a problem. Only until the moment when they face it. I'm talking about workaholism and situations where you work more than common sense dictates.

In the United States, for example, the number of hours worked has been continuous since the 1970s. In our countries, this problem is not so common. But to say that we are not faced with it is tantamount to a lie. I asked a few friends and people of interest to me why they recycle. After receiving the answers, I tried to find a solution.

Fear of being worse than others

This seems to be one of the main reasons we recycle. Success stories, social media and the desire of others to talk only about victories and not about defeats leave their mark. We see the story of a 25-year-old millionaire, project his life onto ourselves and think: "So he worked harder." And we start to work harder.

Solution. We have already written about how hypocritical the photos and posts of your friends on social networks can be. Success stories are only a hundredth of all stories. Defeats are hushed up because no one cares about them. Remember this.

Constant dissatisfaction with their work

Another common reason why workaholics work overtime is dissatisfaction with the results of their work. In the constant pursuit of a fictional ideal, it's easy to forget about everything else. It will only make it worse.

This is a sore subject for me as well. It doesn't matter what I do, it's never enough. On the one hand, it keeps me going, trying new things and working-working-working in the hope that I can be proud of the results.

Solution. You need to know when to stop. The ideal is to have high standards and not be a perfectionist. Easier said than done, I know. However, you will either try to do this, or, in a moment of despair, abandon everything that you once loved.

Desire to be productive

For the average person, thoughts about work are turned off at the moment when the working day ends. He comes home, plays a new episode of Game of Thrones and relaxes, forgetting about work tasks until the next morning.

This is rare for a workaholic. Trying to complete the task two days before the deadline, or to solve the problem not tomorrow, but right now, he forgets about the rest. After all, rest is unproductive. And it's useless.

Solution. Alas, even forcing yourself to rest and not work, a workaholic cannot change anything. After watching a two-hour film, he will not even remember its plot, because his thoughts are still captured by the launch of a new project or ideas for another article. I don't know the solution to this problem, but I understand the simple truth:

Without rest, you will turn into a vegetable and you will not be able to work productively.

How do you deal with workaholism? Answers received in the middle of the working day will not be accepted. Workaholics don't read Life Hacker at work.:)