When the office desk is life: Is being a workaholic good or bad?

In a nutshell, he says if you’re that late-night-and-weekend worker and all this sounds familiar to you, congrats, you’re a workaholic!

But how does one become a workaholic? Career coach Sawan Kapoor explains this condition can be caused by both positive and negative drivers.

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According to him, an exaggerated desire to achieve status, wealth, success and prestige are some positive drivers behind work addiction.

On the other hand, escaping emotional stress via work is an example of a negative driver that can power such behaviour, which can lead to health issues. “Physical symptoms show up as difficulty concentrating, headaches, fatigue or indigestion, possibly due to the stress of overworking,” Kapoor highlights.

Similarly, psychological symptoms entail factors such as bipolar mood swings, an obsession with work-related success or an intense fear of professional failure. “Workaholics like other addicts often live in denial, not admitting that they have a problem, to begin with,” Kapoor adds.

The idea of perfection

Recently, founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company Shantanu Deshpande invited the internet’s wrath for advising new hires to work 18 hours a day instead of trying to find a work-life balance.

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“That early, worship your work… Don’t do random rona-dhona. Take it on the chin and be relentless. You will be way better for it,” he said.

Career experts feel early years of the professional journey not only build the foundation of one’s work ethic but also help cement the professional reputation on which one will build on. Hence, putting in some extra hours might be beneficial.

Concerning work-life balance, Kapoor feels it is not something we experience consistently. “Balance is something we build over time,” he says.

But he adds that there is value in learning how to manage one’s discomfort when professional obligations stretch beyond the ordinary. “It directly impacts our capacity to get stuff done, and is closely related with our ability to reinvent ourselves to tackle ever-increasing complexity and climb the ladder of success,” he points out.

Good vs bad

Being a workaholic is not a bad thing in itself. After all, working hard to get things done so you can take time off later is a good plan, says Ravinder Goyal, co-founder of HR tech firm Erekrut.

There are plenty of benefits of being a workaholic, but he says if you get to the point where you sacrifice most other things for work and begin to resent it, you might want to re-examine your priorities.

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“Being a workaholic is never a good thing in the long run because it starts affecting your health and social life,” says Amit Kataria, CHRO at Minfy Technologies. “However, for a shorter period, putting in longer hours at work may get you out of trouble or put you in a position of strength at work.”

How to find the balance?

Simply put, addiction to anything is bad. Hence, experts say moderation is key while it all boils down to how you manage your energy and priorities.

“Everything inclusive of work is good when it is in your control rather than when it is controlling you,” says executive presense coach Vikram.

The best way to approach this is to acknowledge and listen to people around you. “If stakeholders, including loved ones, are always telling you that you are too busy, then please pause and check in with yourself about whether you are suffering from workaholism,” he advises.

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It’s easy to confuse a workaholic with an ambitious worker but there are some differences. According to Vaishnavi Shukla, HR head at mobility solutions provider Comviva, “Workaholism is not correlated with better work performance.” Rather, it may lead to an unhealthy lifestyle and a very unsatisfying attitude all the time.

Labelling one’s lifestyle and pattern as good or bad is difficult these days, but Shukla points out that it’s important to reflect upon the symptoms and, most importantly, to be aware.