End Workaholism
Just say NO to our workaholic culture.
Most of us are working way too much. We know it. We even complain about it as we keep doing it. Why?
We do it in order to keep our jobs and stay neck-and-neck with the 100 mph pace of our world. We think we have to. We are in an employers’ market, a workplace where scores of qualified candidates wait out in the cold for us to slack off and get fired. We’re told over and over that we’re all infinitely replaceable. This is a culture of fear; crack open a history book to see what happens to nations ruled by fear. It isn’t pretty.
The fear and the non-stop work have kicked our adrenaline into high gear and most of us are now addicted to doing and then doing some more. Our whole culture is. Doing is great, but the problem is that we’re way out of balance and workaholism is now a national emergency.
We’re dangling off the cliff of our sanity and compromising our physical, mental, and emotional health.
We can come back from the edge, but we can’t do it alone. The first step is to admit as individuals, workplaces, and a nation that we are addicts. The next step is to support each other in the recovery process.
Since we’re all creating this system, we can all create the change. It’s not our boss doing this or our managers who will save us. It’s not us vs. them. All of us are in denial.
It’s time for a collective wake-up call. A YES to living an integrated, balanced life, however each of us defines that.
- Consider that you have Intrinsic Worth—your value beyond what you do, say, and create, the roles that you play, or even your skills and gifts. Recognizing your Intrinsic Worth is not only critical to taking back your security, but it’s a powerful way to disrupt workaholism. When you have nothing to prove, it’s easier to set limits around work. In contrast, when you feel like you’re only as ‘good’ as your last accomplishment, you’re likely to find yourself working more and more to prove your value. Try doing nothing each day for a couple of minutes, not even planning what you’re going to do after you do nothing! It’s harder than it sounds, but an extremely important investment in yourself and your ability to live and work in your natural balance.
- Take responsibility for your time and energy. No one else is going to do it for you. Recognize that freedom is often the power to say NO! If you don’t stand up for yourself, you’ll be back at the workaholic punch bowl in no time.
- Take an inventory of how much you’re truly working. Include your Shadow Job. We all have one. It’s responding to that incessant flow of emails before and after work and those other “this will just take a sec” intangibles that demand an extra 10-20 hours of work a week.
- Have an ‘End Workaholism Party’. Invite colleagues, allies, and friends. Go ‘old-school’, cook good food, take the time to conversate, and take a breath. Inventory how much you work and share your results, along with strategies for working less. Create a ‘Just say NO to Workaholism” pledge and sign it. Identify a support buddy to help you say no, long after the party buzz has worn off. Don’t forget recovery happens one day at a time within a supportive, truth telling community.
- Accept that you might get less ‘done’ since many of us work the equivalent of two or more full-time jobs under the illusion that it’s just one. However, new, more grounded expectations could lead to even more creativity and impact. Give it time. Like any addiction, you need to go through detox. Allow yourself to be surprised by what creative energy fills the void left by your workaholism.
- Talk with your colleagues and your boss about the negative effects of working too much and the positive effects of working less. Sound ridiculous? How else do you think things will change? You need to build a critical mass of support around working less. Start small: share the results of an experiment where you didn’t work over the weekend or stopped responding to email once you got home. Note any positive effects on you personally and on your productivity. Encourage your colleagues to do the same. Gradually introduce larger experiments, starting with your own staff if possible: reward them for leaving the office 30 minutes before they usually do. Get really radical: reward yourself for leaving the office 30 minutes before you usually do. Keep plugging away at introducing a new limit each week and noting the positive results.
- Take a few moments every day to think about what you can do with the time you free up from work. Jot down notes on what happens with your quality of life and intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual growth when you set better limits around work. Don’t be surprised if you notice that your impacts at work increase!
