What Does Workaholism Reveal About Mental Health?
In today’s world being a workaholic is a measure of high job performance. Workaholics are praised by employers and their performances becomes a yardstick for other employees.
They are set to think that being a workaholic contributes a bigger percentage to the success of the organization. While this general idea is debatable, the organization makes great gains in terms of profits while in contrast the mental health of a workaholic is negatively impacted.
This article will delve into the impact of Workaholism on an organization and individual.
Benefits to the Organisation
1. More Revenue
High performance leads to high returns which is a good sign for the company as it helps in realizing the objective of growth. This serves the interests of any organization because profits means that the business will expand and bring in more fortunes.
2. Business Growth
As revenues stream in, then the business expands to cover more areas. This in turn means that more people will be required to carry out more functions that come with the expansion.
3. More manpower
More people means more revenue and business growth. This brings about more opportunities which are created by different minds brought together.
Negative Effects to the Employee
1. Disappointments
Being a workaholic means one has a lot of expectations which include enhanced benefits. However, this is not always the case because employers have other interests which may not feature the welfare of employees.
While it is the right of every employee to expect more because of high performance, it often leads to disappointments when those expectations are not met.
2. No Work-Personal Life Balance
Many workaholics spend more time at work and disregard their personal time. They fail to understand that they need time to develop and grow themselves. Their goals and dreams cannot be fulfilled while they spend almost all their time in their workplace. For their growth, they need more personal time than work time.
3. Strained Relationships
Workaholics spend less time with their friends and loved ones and this negatively affects their relations. They have no time to show their love to them or help fulfil their dreams together. While they work hard to show their importance at workplace, their families and loved ones feel lonely and have to find other ways to fill the gap.
4. Lack of Self Care
Workaholics normally put whole of their energy and mind into work and forget about self care. The problem with this is that even the basic things like personal hygiene and being keen on their diet become non essentials. Also exercising to keep fit and maintain a healthy body is ignored. This can lead to physical problems.
5. Lack of Quality Sleep
Being a workaholic can affect one’s sleeping pattern. The struggle to be perfect at workplace can lead to anxiety and stress which brings disturbance to good sleep.
6. Abuse of Drugs
To keep the work going and good results coming in some will resort to using drugs to keep their minds focused only on the job. This leads to addiction because they will heavily rely on drugs to numb the negative emotions that emerge from their duty lines.
How to Cope with Effects of Workaholism on Mental Health?
1. Prioritize self care
Without you being safe and mentally sound, you are not able to perform those tasks as per the required standards. So it is vital that you take care of your physical and mental health first before immersing yourself in your work. Have a checklist of your daily priorities and go through it before and after work hours, if there is anywhere that brings about anxiety then find solution fast.
2. Set boundaries
Understand that your private life is different from your work life and both should be allocated time. When it is the time for you to clock out, do so without hesitation unless you have prior agreement with your employer to extend working hours. Your personal time is equally important because that is the time you can develop yourself.
3. Find a social circle
No one is an island and anyone who has friends will never fall down, and even if he does, he will never remain down for there will always be a helping hand. Your social life matters as it helps unwind your day and rid yourself of work related problems. Find a strong social circle which will protect your interests genuinely and empower you to grow.
4. Work smart
Working hard has its gains but working smart ensures that you are ahead of others. Anyone who works smart not only achieves more in a short time but also uses less energy. By learning to work smart, you will know which assignments to prioritize and which to delegate.
5. Be a team player
Being a workaholic is suicide if you want to be by yourself, you need others in your line of your work. Everyone has their assignments and like a chain every duty relates to the other. As a team member, it behoves you to have the welfare of others in mind as you perform your tasks. This is because, everything you do at work will affect the performance of others positively or negatively.
6. Don’t own that job
The job you are holding onto so much can also be done by someone else. When you own that assignment such that you think you are the only one capable of doing it, you will be like inviting stress with open arms. Sometimes it is good to delegate as this will give you time for personal development. Delegation is also one way of creating other leaders.
7. Do only your assignments
It is good to help others out when they get stuck. However, you cannot be a saviour to everyone who has problems at your workplace. If you give out yourself so that everyone runs to you to take care of their issues when they cannot, then you will be taking in all the stress and anxieties. In no time you will be one who is depressed.
Conclusion
While hardworking employees means a successful future for the company, in contrast it means something must give, and that is the mental health of the employees. Being a hardworking person is important as it leads to high performance and often good salary package. But the big question one should ask is if that is comparable to a peaceful life. Having more money while not physically and mentally healthy are the short-lived consequences of straining yourself to proof that you are the only one who can do that assignment. Prioritize your self care because your body is not like a car which can be taken to a garage to get a spare. In a demanding work environment, it is good to understand that your well being comes first. Your employer will get someone else whenever your health declines and you cannot deliver anymore. By taking care of yourself you can do that job.
By setting boundaries and having social circle which genuinely cares about you are ways to beat the downside effects of Workaholism. Also taking steps to seek professional help when signs manifest can help arrest the problem early. Be a team player and do not try to own that job because anyone can do it. Know the limits of your capabilities and do not try to proof yourself to others. By doing all these, then you are sure to maintain your mental wellness even when environment is so stringent.