A workaholic is a person who is addicted to work; who compulsively works hard continuously for long hours. It is, however, very different from working for long hours. One is a condition and the other is not.
A person working for long hours because they have a deadline or target to meet is not a workaholic. At the same time, there is a very fine line between a workaholic and a person working for long hours. Workaholics just don’t know when to stop, they take their work everywhere they go.
You might be thinking to yourself, isn’t it good to work for long because I can maximize output? But believe it or not, workaholism is a serious condition that, if left unchecked, could harm the workaholic. Some of the negative effects of workaholism include:
Stress
A workaholic person is always engrossed in their work, and many times this leads to them being stressed out. This is especially so in cases where they keep running into dead ends on whatever they are working on.
Stress is also associated with feelings of depression and anxiety, and this can harm the mental health of the individual.
Insomnia
The human body can only run for so long before it needs to rest, and if this does not happen, the effects are usually negative on the individual.
Workaholics are usually so submerged in whatever they are doing until they have no time to sleep, or even disregard sleep totally so that they can continue working.
These irregular sleeping patterns and behaviors are risk factors for insomnia and other sleep-related health problems.
Decreased Job Performance
Working for long hours does not necessarily translate to efficiency in output. Moreso, when you are overworking.
You are bound to experience burnout anytime you work continuously for long periods. Eventually, your performance, and ultimately productivity, decrease.
Affects Relationships Negatively
A workaholic person usually has no time for social and even family relationships.
Socially, workaholics detach themselves from everyone else. They are so immersed and addicted to their work, and this leaves them emotionally unavailable so many times.
This leads to them being loners, and in very extreme cases, they even separate from their spouses.
Whether it is workaholism or any other HR challenges your organization is having, ModernHR has you covered. Contact us today for a customized package of HR services, tailored just for you.