As much as I love my career, I still cannot understand those with an unrelenting need for work. People who cannot seem to understand the fact that there is (or SHOULD be) life outside of work.
Obviously, spending too much time at work is detrimental to one's relationship with friends and family. Not to mention, the effect it has on one's health due to the lack of activity beyond the office desk; or, for those who are constantly on business trips, life outside meeting rooms, hotel rooms and/or airplanes.
If you are a workaholic, stop and take the time to smell the roses. Like what Justin said, Skipping Vacations is Not a Badge of Honor. Believe me, you need to get out once in a while.
A bit of a trivia: Did you know that there is even a term for DEATH DUE TO OVERWORK in Japan? It's called Karoshi. Trust the workaholic culture of Japan to even have a term for it.
Ahh...Karoushi...yeah...sad sad thing. It may seem funny outside of Japan but it was a horrible problem in Japan for a while in the late 80's/early 90's. I even have a t-shirt with the characters for it. You can get it from my web site :)
But for the workaholic thing, it seems this affects alot of new employees. They feel like this is a way of proving their worth. Even I did it too. But I soon realized that it was just a one way ticket to burn out. Unfortunately I think many companies have this view that if you're single and unattached, then it's ok to put some pressure on you to do more than what's necessary or expected....so if you already have workaholic leanings that can just push you over the edge... Gotta be careful...
Posted by: Tim Arai | June 13, 2006 5:45 AM | Permalink to Comment