Workaholism and Personal Wellness

Sections of this topic

    © Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting,
    LLC
    .
    Adapted from the Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision in Business
    and Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision for Nonprofit Staff.

    Workaholism is an addiction. It’s the illusion and associated
    destructive behaviors caused by the illusion, that a person
    can effectively address challenges in life and work exclusively
    by working harder at work.

    The addiction seems to follow this cycle. Discomforts in life
    and work cause the person to seek relief from those discomforts.
    The primary form of relief that the person (the “workaholic”)
    has access to, and believes in the most, is to feel good by accomplishing
    something as part of their job at work. So the workaholic attends
    to getting something done at work. However, as the workaholic
    attends increasingly to getting things done at work, their personal
    life begins to suffer from a lack of attention. As their personal
    life suffers, it causes more discomfort for the workaholic, so
    the workaholic works even harder at getting more things done at
    work, causing their personal lives to suffer even more — and
    the vicious cycle, or compulsive work syndrome, goes on and on.

    One of the most difficult problems in recovering from workaholism
    is that the workaholic’s hard work is often viewed by the person’s
    superiors (supervisors and upper management) as superior performance,
    so they are rewarded for their hard work. Fortunately, many people
    in organizations are learning to recognize the signs of workaholism
    and to realize that, ultimately, the addiction hurts the person’s
    performance.

    Various Perspectives on Workaholism

    Workaholism and Marriage
    In
    Defense of Workaholism

    Are You a Workaholic?

    Also, consider
    Assertiveness
    Attitude
    Authenticity
    Awareness
    Bullying
    (Addressing)

    Burnout
    Cynicism
    Emotional
    Intelligence

    Financial
    Fitness

    Job
    Satisfaction

    Motivating
    and Inspiring Yourself

    Personal
    Development

    Personal
    Productivity

    Physical
    Fitness

    Self-Confidence
    Stress
    Management

    Work-Life
    Balance

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    For the Category of Personal Wellness:

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