The Turth Behind Workaholics

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The Turth Behind Workaholics

I. A workaholic is a person who is crippled and addicted to control and power in a compulsive drive to gain approval and success. They become dependent on their work to define who they are. This essay will discuss two myths surrounding workaholism and two ways one may be able to overcome it.

II. Many think that workaholics make the best employees because they seem to have all of the traits and employer might look for, such as, persistence, dedication and drive. The fact is that workaholics make the poorest employees because they are not capable of being team players. For unclear reasons, workaholics believe that they can do a better job at any given task than their co-workers can. This leads to negative competition, one-upmanship, rivalry and contention in the work place, which results in no or very low productivity.

Workaholics also believe that their approach to any project is the best and only way to do it. They are very narrow minded and so obsessed with the task, that they loose sight of creativity and objectivity. This person may feel that they are doing a perfect job, but in reality, they are taking more time to get things accomplished and, probably, spending more money while missing deadlines and suspense dates only to end up with a product that is not even correct.

Workaholism also has significant effects on one’s home life.

Workaholics spend most of the day at work, so that when he or she gets home, the spouse complains about how much time he spends at the office and the kids cry and complain “When are you going to play with us and take us to the game?” The most common answers a workaholic will have are “We will do it later” and “I promise I will make it up to you another day”. One characteristic of workaholism is that those promises are never kept.

III. Cutting back on hours will not solve the problem. Work is the sole priority of a workaholic. It is on their minds during family time, vacations and even on their days off. Work is the main goal; at the kids’ baseball game or piano recital and even while having sex, they mentally are unable to relax and unwind. It is very difficult for a workaholic to change because they have already let go of their personalities and began to let work define who they are; it becomes their identity.

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