How to become a workaholic: tips. Why people become workaholics

Being a workaholic in modern society is not as bad as being an alcoholic or drug addict. The Soviet past suggests: work is the only normal leisure, the correct branch of personal development and the habit of exemplary citizens. However, from a psychological point of view, it does not matter what you are addicted to: a bottle, a joint, or a laptop with an open report. Workaholics run away from social norms and problems, but not to the bottom of the glass, but into the jungle of affairs.

Disgusting men wondered: how dangerous is workaholism, how to diagnose it and how to overcome it.

Who is a workaholic?

Workaholics are people who do not know how to enjoy life. Often they do not live for themselves, but in this case for work. They are modest, do not allow themselves much, and this does not depend on the fact that they are poor, but on the fact that they do not need it. Workaholics simply sacrifice themselves. According to psychologists and specialists, these are people who are not valued either in the family or in everyday life, and therefore they begin to push themselves into work in order to at least achieve some results.

Workaholics never complain, but that doesn't mean they don't have reasons to worry. Such people cannot learn to show their emotions and pour out their feelings to others. As a result, mental illnesses arise that are difficult to overcome on your own. How to become a workaholic and not ruin your physical and mental health? More on this later.

How to deal with workaholism

It is important to understand that workaholism is a serious addiction that requires the help of specialists. It is extremely rare that people realize there is a problem and try to fix it themselves. In most cases, wanting to get rid of pathology, workaholics replace work with another addiction - alcohol, gambling or drugs, so it is extremely important to help the person cope with the problem and prevent the condition from worsening. You can help a workaholic, but to do this he must take two main steps:

Recognizing that there is a problem is an important step on the path to recovery. It is necessary for a person to understand the negative consequences of such dependence.
Learn to say “no” to offers of additional work, to helping colleagues when there is no urgent need for it, to delays after the end of the working day.

In order to get rid of work addiction, you must follow the following recommendations:

If you can’t cope with your addiction on your own (or even with the help of friends and family), be sure to contact. There is nothing scary or shameful about this. A specialist will help you cope with the problem and show you the world from the other side, where there are many interesting things besides work.

Workaholism is a pathological addiction that requires professional help and awareness of the problem. The only chance to get rid of the disease is to find other ways in life to gain joy, pleasure and self-realization. It is impossible to cope with the problem on your own, so a workaholic definitely needs the support of family, friends or a psychologist.

Is it good to be a workaholic?

A workaholic’s favorite job takes up all his free time - at seven in the morning he is already at his workplace, finishes unnecessary tasks at lunch, and after work, instead of spending time with loved ones, he sits at his laptop and finishes projects. It seems that management should be happy if they have such an employee. But is this really so? Management divides such people into different types.

Real and imaginary workaholics.

Here again it is worth establishing the meaning of the concept “workaholic”. This is a person who is dependent on the love of his work, without which he loses the meaning of life. He is not afraid of the large volume and workload - on the contrary, he begins to enjoy life. At the same time, for a workaholic, both the result and the process are important.

There are also so-called imaginary workaholics. Often these are people who have low productivity, laziness or insufficient knowledge for a given profession. They stay in the office late into the night and take on many tasks, although they cannot complete them. And this is all in order to create the appearance of work.

How to become a workaholic? The main thing is to evenly distribute all the interests in your life.

The workaholic is the engine of the system.

Such an employee carries the burden of the entire department, because he sits and does his job every day, and does not go on vacation or weekends. He is full of enthusiasm, and others do not like him very much for this - all the praise from management goes to him.

Workaholic is tired and imprecise.

Today, large companies prefer not to deal with workaholics, since a person’s physiological characteristics do not allow him to work uninterruptedly, even if he is attracted to his favorite job. You need to find time for sleep and rest, to expand your range of interests.

Workaholic, emotionally burnt out.

This type of workaholism arises from the previous one. How to become a workaholic and not have burnout syndrome? You need to charge yourself only with positive emotions and give your body time to recover.

Psychologist's comment:

When reading the text above, I was struck by the special tone of its author, which can even be called accusing. It’s as if the workaholic, completely not understanding what is happening to him, as if out of spite to all his loved ones, is engaged in vigorous activity, just so as not to see them and not meet with them, along with the disgusting reality. I would venture to suggest that this is not always the case, and the author of the text, alas, is influenced by numerous myths about workaholism that have appeared in recent years.

Let's see what actually happens to a person who exhibits certain symptoms of workaholism.

First of all, when communicating with a workaholic, you should get rid of the accusing tone. After all, if we proceed from the fact that workaholism is a disease, then a person who has such problems should be treated as a patient - if not with acceptance of his illness, then at least with respect and understanding.

It's not very often that workaholics don't understand what's happening to them. But some of them, noticing bad changes in their behavior, turn to psychologists for help, and the situation changes.

Imaginary work efficiency

Another interesting myth about workaholism concerns the work efficiency of such a person. It is generally accepted that a workaholic is an excellent employee because he works hard and selflessly. But good managers know that this is not so, and they try not to appoint such employees to important positions.

Why? Everything is quite simple: the boss wants the work to be done as efficiently and quickly as possible, and workaholics want the work to never end.

In accordance with his needs, an employee who loves to work excessively will unconsciously, without realizing it, increase the deadlines for completing his work. He will not be able to effectively delegate tasks (if he is a manager), and he will try to focus all key work processes on himself. And since one person cannot effectively work on many tasks, their completion will be hampered. Thus, it turns out that such a person not only harms himself, but also does not contribute particularly well at his job. After all, as someone once wittily remarked, you need to work not twelve hours a day, but with your head.

Fight or help?

The author of the article writes about workaholism as a kind of serpent, which, like the green serpent in alcoholism, pulls a person along with it into the abyss, and suggests that such a person first reduce the amount of work performed.

Will this recommendation work? I think this is unlikely, since workaholism most often is a person’s defensive reaction, protecting him from various unpleasant experiences. In other words, such a person unconsciously or even consciously made the following decision: “it is better to load your head with work than with painful feelings and thoughts.”

It is quite possible that this method of avoiding problems was learned when, in childhood, the future workaholic had a significant figure who was also inclined to go to work, and therefore unwittingly conveyed to the child a message like: “it is impossible to solve problems, you can only hide from them by working.” "

When such a child grows up, he unconsciously adopts this form of response, and in certain situations his workaholism “turns on.” Moreover, quite often this mode of life remains turned on forever. If you try to take away such protection from a person in the form of immersion in work, then he may become much worse - even to the point of a nervous breakdown with hospitalization in the hospital. Therefore, if one of your loved ones is sick with workaholism, do not try to forcibly “cure” him of this: such actions are unlikely to bring any benefit, and they can still do much harm!

What to do?

What can be done to help a workaholic? You can gently and carefully draw his attention to how other areas of his life are suffering to the detriment of his work and advise him to explore why this is happening with a psychologist or psychotherapist. An experienced psychologist can help such a person find the reasons for his departure to work, and find a way to otherwise cope with the experiences that contributed to this. As a result of such work, workaholics can stop spending their lives only on work activities and make their lives more rich and multifaceted.

If you, dear reader, are noticing signs of workaholism and have read this far, ask yourself the question: “How will my life change if I start working no more than 8 hours a day? Will this make my life better, brighter - or worse, paler? How will I fill the free time?”

If these questions somehow, as they say, touch your heartstrings, cause anxiety or, conversely, a desire to brush it off with the words “all this is nonsense,” then it is quite possible that you should pay close attention to this part of your life and think about how to restore balance between work and other equally important components of your life.

Evgeniy Makhlin, family and marital psychotherapist

Reasons why workaholism occurs

The concept of “workaholic” entered the specialized literature in 1971, and it denoted a passion for work, a constant desire to do something.

Why do people become workaholics? There are a couple of reasons.

Addiction.

Workaholism in this understanding is seen as the influence of external and internal chemical processes on a person and his behavior. For example, if a workaholic works a lot, then a surge of adrenaline occurs in the body, which leads to the addiction to work.

Learning.

This reason lies in the fact that if a person sees that someone around him is working hard, then he himself will begin to do the same. The positive side: if this happens in a team, then employees will look up to the best.

Character traits.

Workaholism can be a character trait and develop in preschool age. The main thing here is to make sure that it does not turn into an excellent student syndrome, which can negatively affect mental health.

Sociocultural reasons.

Spending a lot of time in the office, people consider this a valid reason that justifies their non-participation in other activities. Psychologists believe that the main problem of workaholics is the lack of opportunity or desire to have close contacts with others.

When is it considered a disease?

Workaholism in itself is not something bad, as long as it does not go beyond the limits.

This zeal for work is a disease when a person forgets about everything, replacing it with work.

If a person is not interested in anything except his affairs. At the same time, even if the work is meaningless, the workaholic does not understand that, he works hard and continues to do his job.

Workaholism is a disease if a person replaces with work a successful personal life, all experiences and anxieties.

If the first thing he thinks about when he wakes up in the morning is his work activity. If he tries to fill the spiritual emptiness with deeds.

It is easy to understand that a person is sick with this, at first glance, somewhat strange disease.

Apart from work, you will not see him anywhere, you will not hear anything from him except stories about business, but a workaholic may not even remember his colleagues.
What is important to him is not salary, work friends, communication, but only the work process itself.
Such a person is very lonely, he does not know how to communicate. It's incredibly difficult with him.
He has a slightly wandering gaze, his eyes only light up when he remembers work. This is actually a very sad sight.

How to become a workaholic: tips and stages of working on yourself

Working overtime is the fastest and easiest way to show your work ethic. But you should be prepared for the fact that such work is not always paid.
Participation in new projects. And even if your superiors do not ask you to take on an additional task, you need to nominate yourself for this or that job.
Active participation in the life of the company. As in the previous point, you need to constantly put forward your candidacy. But only now this applies not only to work matters, but also to relationships with colleagues outside of work.
Do your work quickly and efficiently. You should take on complex work first, because much more time is spent on its completion than on minor duties.
Do more than necessary. Management loves people who are hardworking, ambitious and creative. And the best way is to show that you can “jump over your head.”
Take assignments home. And even if they can be done in the office, sometimes it’s worth creating the appearance of working at home.

Stages of development of workaholism:

Mobilization stage (heroic). An increase in strength, a surge of energy: a person is faced with new tasks, for which some kind of reward is promised: encouragement or, conversely, a negative incentive - the possibility of dismissal, for example. (By the way, money at this stage does not play a decisive role). The body in such a situation is so mobilized that it ceases to be susceptible to negative factors: in this state, a person can easily not succumb to diseases and sleep 5 hours a day. Subjectively, such a moment is perceived by the employee as a period of the highest realization of his own potential. Of course, this is nice: who doesn’t want to feel like a hero? A positive attitude during this period concerns not only one’s own person, but also those around him: colleagues seem competent, clients seem pleasant, bosses seem fair. However, the higher the euphoria, the more depressing the state of decline after it will be - and this state will certainly occur when stress hormones begin to be removed from the blood to lower tone. Recommendations:
at the mobilization stage, it is extremely important not to forget about rest - no matter how much you want to forget about sleep and rush with full sail to achieve your goal. And one more thing: get ready for the fact that this fantastic ability to work will soon leave you, and you will not be able to not only turn the world upside down, but also finish the report. This is not a reason to consider yourself a worthless loser; all these are the results of psychophysiological processes.
Maturation stage (sthenic). If at the previous stage a person did not find time to rest and recuperate, the stage of endurance begins: it becomes difficult to complete the assigned tasks, fatigue and disappointment accumulate. Now the employee begins to wait for the end of the working day, weekends, vacations, which simply did not happen at the heroic stage. There is less enthusiasm: the attitude of employees and clients becomes indifferent. Diseases and colds return, tone drops. This fatigue is still reversible: after sleep and days off, strength is still restored. The sthenic stage can drag on for a very long time, and there are two ways out of it: success or illness. Upon achieving success, the person, having perked up, returns to the first, heroic stage, but if everything ends in illness or some kind of breakdown, the employee moves to the third stage.
Asthenic stage. At this stage, strength runs out, weakness, irritability, despair, apathy, and emptiness arise. The rest regime is completely disrupted: in the morning a person feels the worst, during the day there is an interest in work, in the evening - excitement and insomnia. Now we have to resort to active stimulation: in the morning - coffee, in the evenings - sleeping pills or alcohol. This stage corresponds to a state of chronic distress (chronic tension resulting from prolonged stress). This condition is impossible not to notice: work efficiency is greatly reduced, memory and attention deteriorate, and serious “punches” appear in work. The attitude towards others becomes sharply negative: the person cannot even see clients, communication with colleagues deteriorates greatly. The bad thing is that a lot of problems arise with self-attitude at this stage: the employee feels like a worthless nonentity. There are two ways out: rest or prolonged illness - if you don’t listen to your body, it will force you to pay attention to itself. Experienced HR specialists know: after a change in the company’s corporate policy and stricter requirements for employees, the number of sick days increases sharply during the year. It is undesirable to remain at this stage for a long time, and external support and good rest are especially important for a workaholic.
Stage of professional deformation. Are you ignoring stage 3? Get a kind of “working mechanism”, a person who has displaced all feelings and left only working options. He will look at colleagues and clients as an object, a unit: he performs his functions, but does not enter into personal relationships. You've probably seen these: a tired doctor at a district clinic or a cashier who looks at customers as part of the interior. It is interesting that physically a person may feel normal, but interest in work and life in general at this stage has already been lost. It is very difficult to get out of the deformation stage - a workaholic believes that he is “just doing his job” and there is no problem. Recommendations:
as we have already said, it is very difficult to get out of this stage, so the issue of prevention is relevant. Well, to prevent burnout, aspects such as awareness and motivation are very important. Periodically ask yourself 2 questions: “Does what I am doing make sense?” and “Does my work bring me joy?” We all look at the world soberly and are aware that even the work we love sometimes gets boring, but still a feeling of satisfaction should prevail. If “everything is wrong and everything is wrong” - perhaps you are busy with something wrong?

Listen to yourself. It is very important to independently regulate your own physical and emotional state - pay attention to your well-being, balance between good work and good rest, and also objectively assess your own capabilities and limits.
Don't forget about vacation. It is not for nothing that compulsory vacation is stipulated by the Labor Code: you should not neglect it, and remember - 2 weeks of continuous vacation are provided to everyone, even extremely important, irreplaceable employees.
Look for ways to recuperate. Communicate with loved ones, don’t give up your hobbies, find time for leisure: your whole life cannot be reduced to just work, no matter how wonderful, beloved and prestigious it may be.
Sometimes it can be useful to change jobs. Perhaps in another company in a similar position you will feel much more comfortable simply because the company’s management adheres to a more lenient policy towards its employees. Again, it’s better to learn about such things “from the inside,” from the employees themselves.

Needless to say, any enterprise and any field of activity rests on a bunch of enthusiastic workaholics. The only question is: how does this very “bunch” feel? A dilemma arises: aren’t great achievements and discoveries worth devoting all of yourself to them? From the point of view of psychology, they are not worth it: psychologists are always most concerned about the safety of the psychological health and well-being of each individual, and not about the good of all humanity.

And if we omit the description of the cockroaches that danced in my head all week before the broadcast and sang in chorus: “who are you to teach people,” “there are plenty of more experienced people around, but where are you going?” If we omit the stories about the body, which protested with rashes on the face (“don’t show your face and don’t light up”), hoarseness in the throat (“keep quiet, you’ll pass for smart”), a cold (“lie down and stay at home - don’t stick your head out”). Fears and fears from “what if I forget everything” to “what if I don’t have time to say something important.” So, if we omit the story with my personal cockroaches, what remains is a summary of the causes of workaholism, supplemented by my comments, quotes from books and the Internet, carefully passed through the prism of personal experience. And also a sobering video recording of the broadcast on YouTube, which shook my ideas about myself and made me think in a new way.

What is workaholism?

In general, workaholism is a type of psychological addiction when work becomes the center of a person’s entire life. One of the most popular and at the same time SOCIALLY APPROVED addictions!

And this is very important, because if you get a slap on the wrist for gambling or drinking alcohol, then hard work is strongly encouraged in society and in many individual companies.

Traits of a workaholic or “I recognize you in makeup”

Perfectionism and the desire to be the best in everything;
Control with or without reason;
Low self-esteem and, as a result, the desire to earn praise and approval;

It is clear that a kind word is also pleasant for a cat, but “when those around you create a reputation for you as an excellent specialist who will cope with all problems better than anyone else, they can pursue their goals and do not need to take it to heart.”
Ekaterina Mikhailova
“I’m alone at home or Vasilisa’s spindle”

Scrupulousness, getting stuck on details;
Inability to accept and analyze;
Problems of an intimate and personal nature.

External causes of workaholism:

Excessive competition in the team;
System of constant monitoring of work performance, external pressure.

At the same time, a person without injury, even if he ends up in such a team, will calmly get out of the situation or leave such a job. For workaholics, everything is more complicated.

"Workaholics are successful"

Work doesn't always go smoothly. Due to physical fatigue, doing several things at once, and the desire to be the best in everything, a person becomes exhausted, makes mistakes, and displeases his superiors. This throws him into shock, and he tries to work to the limit. The result is an emotional breakdown or exacerbation of chronic diseases. An adequate person in such a situation must understand that it is time to change something in life (found on the Internet)
Recycling as a norm of life

It is clear that in our unstable times, when crisis-crisis and horror-horror, we have to make concessions on something. Cherish your place. Sometimes go on weekends, sometimes during non-working hours. Yes, and in normal, pre-crisis times, you hesitated here, didn’t have time to finish the report, and now you find yourself at home at ten o’clock in the evening. Alas, this happens. But what is an exception or forced necessity for the average worker is the norm for a workaholic.

How to identify workaholism and when is it time to start treatment?

A few of my personal markers that do not claim to be the ultimate truth, but help to regain the balance of work and personal:

Happiness is when you go to work with pleasure and return home with pleasure.
If “everything is fine” (“apartment, car, world fame”), but it doesn’t feel very good. If there is no joy in life. If you have no strength, there is no desire to get up in the morning. If breakdowns, depression, apathy occur regularly. Fatigue, and chronic fatigue. If any of this exists, then it is not good at all.
If you are good in only one area - work, but fail in your personal life, in the areas of hobbies, health, friends, this is a reason to seriously think about it.
If chronic diseases worsen and then do not go away for a long time.

The reasons for workaholism and what does childhood actually have to do with it?

Sometimes it seems to us that the situations that happen to us at work, in our personal lives, etc. happened on their own. “It just happened.” No luck with the boss. Colleagues let us down. This company is not like that. All this is true, but not quite.

If you think about it, we don't make many choices in our lives. We do not choose, for example, our parents or the country where we are born. But we choose a profession and a job. It's the same ones. And a large share of our responsibility lies in what we choose, who and how. And in the case of workaholics, this choice may come from the traumatized childhood part. And even if we sit straight and don’t change anything in our professional life, it’s still our choice: not to change anything and not to choose anything.

If we are not in tune with our emotions, with our own desires, if we are not aware of the possible hidden benefits of being in a particular situation, we will continue to choose from our traumatized part. Out of a desire to earn love and approval from the boss (and subconsciously, most likely, mom or dad); gain greater status through involvement in the company’s brand; find a second family at work without building the first; get the buzz and drive that is missing in everyday life, etc.

And then there are generic scripts passed down through generations, parental attitudes (“You can only rely on yourself,” “The main thing is a stable job,” etc.) Patterns from previous generations (“Survive at all costs,” “Without work is death"). We are conditioned by our scenarios and when working with the topic of workaholism, its causes, it is very important to be aware of this. Understand what guides us when making this or that choice. Psychotherapy is very helpful in this regard.

Why doesn't good advice on treating workaholism make you feel good?

Here, for example, are some of them:

Strictly follow the daily routine, be sure to rest during the lunch break;
Turn off your mobile phone after 19:00;
In your free time and on weekends, spend most of your time with family and friends;
Engage in hobbies unrelated to professional activities;
Monitor your health, if you become ill, take sick leave and receive treatment at home;
Play sports or at least do exercises during the day;
Redistribute work responsibilities and perform only your own.

If you had told me about this five years ago, when I was a workaholic myself, I would have said “uh-huh” and moved on. To work. Because, despite all the smart advice, internal discord still remains. He doesn't leave. And if there is no permission, a 100% internal attitude that I have every right not to work on weekends, even if you turn off the phone, little will change. The anxiety won't go away. Fear for the fate of the world will only grow. And further depending on the specific situation. Each individual workaholic will have his own reason for concern.

What questions should you ask to shed light on the situation?

To begin with, it would be good to pay attention to yourself, ask yourself honestly and answer honestly: “In general, how is it for me? Is this the whole situation now? At the level of mind, emotions, body? If it’s bad, understand why I’m still here? "For what?". The last question makes clear our hidden benefits.

For example, then, to prove something to yourself. To prove to mom/dad that I'm worth something. Then, to survive, because without work I would disappear and go around the world. Then, that “no one but me” and only “the entire domestic industry rests on me.”

Perhaps in order to fulfill Ilyich’s parental “behaviors”: to become a lawyer, an economist, a ballerina. How's mom or dad? For what? There is a 99.9% probability that they will love me...

If you ask yourself the question “Why?” in writing five times. and answer it five times, even the most avid workaholics have epiphanies. The reasons for workaholism and, in general, everything that happens to us become a little clearer. I checked.

But remote work or downshifting... Is this a treatment for workaholism or just the other extreme?

If you look at downshifting as a human philosophy of “living for yourself” and “giving up other people’s goals”, but as a search for your own rhythm of life, then for some it may be a good alternative. Provided that there is an understanding of which goals are mine and which are someone else’s. But it would also be good to understand what motives prompt you to go into downshifting, and, perhaps, to avoid life’s challenges.

And often this may not be the choice of a realized person. Fears, doubts, shame, guilt, complexes, traumas. All this unprocessed “legacy” is frightening and a person habitually avoids situations and circumstances that are difficult for him, without caring, he does not take steps towards himself, does not receive lessons, does not develop, but, on the contrary, avoids and ignores himself.

Workaholism: treatment

So what should I do if I'm a workaholic?

Put yourself first in your life;
Raise your self-esteem;
Learn to refuse;
Keep a “success diary” where you praise yourself, celebrate achievements, set new goals that relate to all areas of life (work, family, self-development, friendship, etc.);
You can draw to clearly see which area is suffering;
Recognize your emotions and your desires (is this desire really mine or am I now implementing someone else’s scenario, or, on the contrary, am I not realizing it out of spite, so as not to be like my mom/dad?)
Work through the topic of control (what I can control and what I can’t);
Understand (what I am still responsible for and what I am no longer responsible for);
Don’t take a piece larger than you can swallow (in other words, don’t take on an exorbitant burden from a pile of business projects);
Clearly define the boundaries of work and personal time and take care of them;
Give your best at work, but never sacrifice yourself and other areas of your life.

How to get management to notice?

A “workaholic woman” is less common than a man. Management is more likely to notice a female person. So what's a man to do?

Wear good business attire.
Construct behavior in such a way that people understand the importance of your business.
Have your own point of view and defend it.
Take on challenging and interesting tasks.
Draw attention to your work.
Be friendly, but not let others get on your neck.