How can workaholics get themselves to rest and unwind?

The hustle culture has coaxed us into believing that being a workaholic equals to a motivated and hard-working professional. However, they aren’t the same 

The instant you hear the word “workaholic,” you’re likely to picture someone who is a go-getter—an achiever with a personality that is headlined by being hard-working. That’s what the corporate world, or perhaps, hustle culture, has coaxed us into believing. However, there can be more cons to workaholism than pros—after all, any addiction is a bad addiction. 

According to Deloitte’s external marketplace survey of 1,000 full-time US professionals, 77 per cent of Americans who work full-time have experienced burnout at their jobs. In all likelihood, the cause behind this could be the fact that 94 per cent of service professionals put in more than 50 hours of work a week, according to a Harvard Business School survey. A Business Linearticle from 2013 revealed that 64 per cent of Indian professionals described themselves as workaholics back then. Another news piece on Firstpost from 2015 shared insights from America-based online travel agency firm TripAdvisor’s survey. “Approximately 50 per cent of those polled in India reported having worked during vacations over the past year, compared to a global average of 44.19 per cent,” mentioned the survey. 

Today, with a sharp inclination in unemployment and inflation and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic later, India is among the top ten workaholic countries in the world. What are the dangerous yet contravened repercussions of being a workaholic and how can you invite a healthier work-life balance? Two psychologists and mental health coaches sound off their thoughts.

Are you a workaholic?

According to Hansika Kapoor, a research author at the Department of Psychology, Monk Prayogshala, Mumbai, a workaholic is someone who is unable to detach from their work identity and invests an inordinate amount of time and energy working, at the expense of other areas of their life. Haven’t we all seen a friend, or a relative in the family, who carries their work around with themselves wherever they move? Well, they do pass as workaholics, owing to their inability to disconnect from their professional selves.

However, one mustn’t confuse a hard-working, passionate professional with a workaholic—there’s a thin but definitive line. As workaholism is not a diagnosis, there is no certain way to distinguish a workaholic from a hard worker. Having that said, “a workaholic is likely to have a poor conception of work-life balance, is unable to take a break from work (out of choice and not due to monetary concerns), can feel excessive guilt and anxiety if they take a break and could be compulsively addicted to their work,” explains Kapoor. “Passionate professionals, on the other hand, are also hard workers but are able to develop a healthy balance between their multiple identities of work, home/family and other areas requiring attention. They are more likely to be able to detach from work and take a break when needed.”

“As the word suggests, ‘workaholism’ is an addictive behaviour towards work,” says  counselling psychologist and therapist Ruchi Ruuh. “A workaholic person is excessively compulsive [towards work], at the expense of neglect towards other important areas of life such as relationships, well-being and hobbies,” she further explains, indicating that workaholism can take a toll on your personal life, leaving no room for play.

The perils of being a workaholic

Describing the relationship that a passionate professional—not workaholic—shares with work, Ruuh says, “It’s like a healthy relationship with work with good boundaries, no codependency or enmeshment involved whatsoever.” On the other hand, a workaholic’s vehemence is also characterised by a lack of detachment, ineptitude to draw boundaries and a sense of over-responsibility. While these factors might do you some good in the initial stages of your career, they also tend to keep you aloof from the consequences of burnout, which will ultimately damage your professional performance more adversely than you can imagine.

“Excessive working may imply greater productivity; however, this is often not the case, and the drop in productivity can create guilt, leading to more involvement in work. This is then a vicious cycle that is difficult to break,” says Kapoor. In fact, you may transpose from an extreme of not being able to detach from your work to another extreme where you feel completely detached from your work. This could be treacherous in all aspects—mentally, financially, emotionally and professionally. “Eighty-seven per cent of professionals surveyed say they have passion for their current job but 64 per cent say they are frequently stressed, dispelling the myth that passionate employees are immune to stress or burnout,” substantiates the aforementioned Deloitte report.

Your professional graph isn’t the only aspect of your life that is impacted due to workaholism. “The most salient threat of workaholism is its negative impacts on one’s physical and mental health,” says Kapoor. “Workaholics are less likely to be able to spend time on self-care behaviours such as exercising, mindful eating, getting enough sleep, meditation and socialising with family/friends outside of their work settings.” Thesefactors, when combined, can also jeopardise your physical health and impair your immune system.

Along the same lines, Ruuh adds, “Their interpersonal relationships suffer too as they are not able to nurture them. Holidays, family, friends and social interactions help individuals stay creative and give a fresh perspective to life. Workaholic individuals miss out on these opportunities, leading to zero to very little fulfilment of personal goals.” This is, perhaps, the biggest reason why we see more workaholics struggling with mental health problems like anxiety and depression, mounting from chronic stress. “Even though they spend so much time at work, or worrying about work, their job satisfaction levels might still drop,” concludes Ruuh.

Maintaining a work-life balance

Despite the assumption in several sectors in India that more time spent at work equals better work, this sets up unreasonable expectations, fostering an unhealthy work environment—one that is devoid of leisure and personal time. Ruuh believes that the first step is to recognise that there is a problem. Even though workaholics hear it from others, deep self-realisation that their work, health and relationships are suffering can be the start of it. “One way to achieve work-life balance is to realise that there are opportunity costs associated with the time spent working,” explains Kapoor. “Ask yourself, what would you rather do with that one extra hour you plan to spend at work? Similarly, it is important to acknowledge and mould identities that are distinct from your professional self. Is there a hobby you had but did not pursue? Something you always wanted to learn? People you wanted to catch up with? One of the common reasons workaholics are stuck in a cycle is that they lose sight of an alternative—so it is important to consciously invest in and develop other areas of your life, apart from work.”

Ruuh suggests workaholics can start with a clear distinction between the workspace and home space. “If they are working from home, make sure that there is a dedicated desk for it. Setting timers and alarms for work hours can be very helpful.” Kapoor has noticed that workaholics tend to have a penchant for schedules and structures and so “one of the simplest ways to unwind is to actually schedule this in your work day—mark out a block of time in your calendar to remind you to take a break.” Enumerating ways to draw boundaries, Kapoor says, “You could decide to un-sync your email from your phone or get a new SIM card/handset for work or you have a hard stop at the end of the day and decide weekends are only meant for personal time.” On a similar note, Ruuh adds, “Try not to check your emails outside work hours, switch off your phone after dinner and make sure to take a day off during the week for self-care. Practising the habit of saying no could also help workaholics keep a check on taking on extra work.”

Other balancing and mindful acts such as meditation, journaling your thoughts and goals, indulging in physical activities such as yoga, workouts or a simple jog, being cognisant of what you’re eating and opting for a digital detox from time to time are common practices that can help you break up with the toxic relationship you share with workaholism as “they can boost mood, self-esteem and good hormones like dopamine and endorphins in the body.”

“Remember that we are humans and not machines. We need rest and relaxation, and in fact, the absence of breaks can severely and negatively impact our health,” concludes Kapoor.

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