Your Approach to Work May Be Killing You

There is a phenomenon in the Japanese culture known as Karoshi. It literally means working yourself to death. It is what I and many others refer to as workaholism. We sometimes use euphemisms when describing workaholism such as, he/she is married to his work, he/she is committed, or he/she is passionate about their work. Workaholics work and keep themselves busy leaving little time to be alone with family and friends, or to develop themselves in other ways.

Are you a workaholic? Only you can answer that. Here are some of the signs. If you find you have trouble just sitting and being. Taking work to bed or losing a significant amount of sleep to do work. If you are "sacrificing" quality time with your family and friends due to work. Discussing only work when you are in the company of family or friends. If you get angry because people suggest that you work too much. Not being able to turn the work engine off.

There are many pathways into workaholism. Yet the toll on the individual's life is usually the same. One pathway into workaholism is passion. This is someone who loves their work so much they can't image doing anything else. They can be very underdeveloped individuals. Some workaholics claim they don't like working so much, but convince themselves that their "overwork" is temporary. Some can't set limits for themselves. Others are so disorganized and inefficient that everything takes double or triple the time to complete. For some it is because they never feel good enough while others define themselves by their external accomplishments. Some have such severely low self esteem that they can't allow themselves to slow down in fear of what will bubble up.

Much like other types of addiction, identifying which pathway you are on is important. However, the first task to identify that it is indeed a problem. Left unattended, workaholism can take a toll on an individual's heath due to chronic stress and exhaustion. Workaholics also find themselves to be isolated and lonely. A price they pay for not having spent the time to form and nurture meaningful relationships. Generally, as with other addictions, the distress gets greater over time. Also characteristic of other addictive patterns, the workaholic increasingly turns to compulsive activity as a means of escaping or avoiding emotions. This creates a vicious cycle for the workaholic of never being able to get enough of what they NEVER really wanted in the first place. Workaholics are usually clearer about what they don't want than what they do want.

Regardless of the pathway into workaholism, there are some common pathways out. It ultimately means being able to be away from work, completely, for periods of time. This translates into no lap top, no e-mail, and no checking in at the office. As with any change program, you can start small. Then add on additional strategies over time.

Many of the strategies are related to time and priority management. Use that daily planner to schedule in time with your family and friends. Schedule in time to exercise. A cardiovascular workout is a great strategy for helping minimize the toxic effects of stress on the body.

Another pathway out of workaholism is to develop some powerful self care rituals to help you avoid losing yourself to work. In my work as an executive consultant, I have found that the most balanced and effective executives have a ritual in the morning to help them gear up for the day. For each unique individual the rituals they practice look very different. Some ideas in creating your own rituals include; prayer, reading the bible, meditating, reading some inspirational material, listening to self improvement tapes, exercise, affirmations, and visualization to name a few. Many use a combination of the above practices. It does make a difference. Many workaholics "hit the ground running" from the moment they wake up which only creates a mindset of overwhelm for the day.

A final strategy I will mention that can help you out of workaholism involves a change in how you think about your time. In prison you get "time off" for "good behavior". Don't use that strategy for managing your time and your life. I used to give myself "time off" for "hard work". When I shifted to viewing time off as something that I absolutely needed to nurture myself, nurture my relationships, and further develop myself I noticed immediate positive results. I saw how my periods of creativity, productivity, and fulfillment increased when I began scheduling in regular periods of time off from ALL work. The final result is that I could get more done in less time.

Remember, your work is not your life. Your life is your life. Put your work in perspective, relative to your entire life. Enjoy your life. Romance your life. Live it in a more complete way. Develop yourself in a more complete way. You deserve that.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mike Davison