Workaholism is a painful condition that is not customary to talk about
The topic of professional burnout has not kicked at Habré just lazy. There were stories about how to deal with this, and stories of people who personally encountered this problem, and articles like "how to avoid burnout." In fact, the topic is important and necessary. For many developers, their profession translates not only into a way of earning, but also into personal hobbies. People get real pleasure from what they are doing, and when they leave the office in the evening they return home and pick their own pet-projects.
But for some reason everyone either bashfully holds back, or does not pay attention to such a thing as dependence on work. People just earned this sore confuse it with motivation and increased productivity. But in fact, dependence on work or (clinical) workaholism is the path to one of the toughest neuroses, which cannot even be compared with professional burnout. And that's why.
')
I did not just mention professional burnout. We all know its main features: aversion to work, reduced concentration, apathy. In short, a person becomes boring, lethargic and does not need anything from life. He reluctantly approaches the keyboard and only for a very big need. Talk about some satisfaction from their activities is not necessary. And it scares everyone very, very much, because in IT circles most people really like what they do.
In contrast to burnout, they bring in a state of “working tone” - when you are cheerful, fresh and productive. Just do not sing songs, like a Disney princess. Work in our society is also praised, as is the desire for it. I don’t know where it went from, maybe earlier life was simpler (no) and it was possible to work for shalupotnich every day (either not either, but you never know), but a painful craving for work was elevated to the rank of merits in our society.
But what if I say that workaholism is not such a cute, fluffy bunny, how is it painted? After all, it is true that the mother almost praises to her friends that her little basket (even if her son is under forty, three children and a dog) she is so hardworking that she will not rejoice, and now and then the phrase “just a workaholic I have it! ” If mothers clearly knew what “joys” workaholism promises, they would not be so optimistic.
In general, the term “workaholism” appeared relatively recently and was introduced into use by Wayne Wats in his book “The Confession of a Workaholic” of the 1971 edition. At the same time, it is believed that workaholism precedes precisely the above-described professional burnout, but personally I can’t put physical dependence on work with subsequent apathy and denial of professional activity in one row. Rather, workaholism only gets worse over time, because, as in the case of alcoholism in consonance with him, this is a physical addiction.
Now I will give part of the list of signs of workaholism, which are kindly collected in the wiki, choosing the most "tough" of them:
And now I will describe a series of states of a typical workaholic, in which he exists constantly.
A workaholic can be lazy, it is generally normal for all living things. But, unlike an ordinary person, our victim is getting worse and worse every hour in the physical plane. Just because it does not work.
Rest is not about workaholics at all. No, they rest, sleep, watch a movie, but if ordinary people are distracted and gain energy during their rest, the workaholic is charged with anxiety levels. You know how the feeling before a thunderstorm, or if something bad should happen. It is possible to get rid of this only with a dose of shock labor.
Leave for a workaholic is possible if you deprive him of any opportunity to work. The first 2-3 days he will have a break, after which our nerves will go "under the skin" and lie low to begin to "pump" the nervous system of the workaholic with a vengeance upon returning home.
Many people do not share workaholism and hard work, believing that both of these phenomena are the same. Very often, people who simply can quickly "get together" are attributed to the traits of workaholics. This is not true.
First of all, you need to realize that workaholism is an extremely painful and, in the long term, dangerous state of the human psyche. Workaholism does not give superpower, productivity and other "Stakhanov" buns with which it is associated. A workaholic can be lethargic, exhausted, have problems concentrating. He is distinguished from just a hardworking person by the fact that he is physically ill without the work process itself .
At the same time, the results of labor fade into the background: as soon as the workaholic copes with the task entrusted to him, the result instantly depreciates, he is no longer important. It is only important to receive and perform the next task.
More workaholics do not know how to "work on credit." No matter how many hours you worked yesterday, today you also need to do something useful. Nervousness is not affected by neither the complexity nor the number of tasks. They all disappear, as if in a black hole, and the workaholic goes in search of a new “dose”. In general, the analogy with any kind of drug addiction most clearly characterizes the condition of a workaholic. The same dissatisfaction, the same physical dependence, the same search for a new dose. The longer the workaholic stays idle for objective or subjective reasons, the more stress he accumulates. And getting rid of this condition is almost impossible.
In the "risk group" you can write all the colors and sizes of freelancers, but in fact no one is protected from this neurosis. How to deal with it is also not clear. On the one hand, workaholism seems to be useful. At least profitable. In addition, the problem of workaholics successfully silenced, and the business is encouraged at all, because such people are extremely valuable and profitable. Themselves workaholics, like avid addicts - do not want to be treated and will not.
I did not come across such a term as "the fight against workaholism." Society perceives this nerve at the level of a joke: “Oh, well, it works, and well. Everyone is working! ”An ordinary person simply does not understand the painful state of a workaholic, and out of ignorance, he may even be envious.
They live with this phenomenon mostly in silence, sometimes for a long time. The constant stress that you don’t work or you don’t work out enough exhausts and burns internal resources. It would seem that a burnout should be the logical outcome of such a state, but this does not always happen. At the same time, workaholics are often clearly aware of their own problems, but they follow the path of least resistance: work and calm down for a while. When you live in the state of "compressed spring" for many years, such a destructive tactic seems to be the best way out. Just work, close a couple of tasks, and then a couple more. Tomorrow there will be a new day, new tasks, then you have to go through the weekend and Monday morning, and you're back on the horse.
But there is a question: will the nervous system sustain such a rhythm and will you reach old age?
And there is no answer to it, because workaholism is supposedly not a problem, and there is nothing to discuss it.
But for some reason everyone either bashfully holds back, or does not pay attention to such a thing as dependence on work. People just earned this sore confuse it with motivation and increased productivity. But in fact, dependence on work or (clinical) workaholism is the path to one of the toughest neuroses, which cannot even be compared with professional burnout. And that's why.
')
Workaholism taken to praise, but it is a monster
I did not just mention professional burnout. We all know its main features: aversion to work, reduced concentration, apathy. In short, a person becomes boring, lethargic and does not need anything from life. He reluctantly approaches the keyboard and only for a very big need. Talk about some satisfaction from their activities is not necessary. And it scares everyone very, very much, because in IT circles most people really like what they do.
In contrast to burnout, they bring in a state of “working tone” - when you are cheerful, fresh and productive. Just do not sing songs, like a Disney princess. Work in our society is also praised, as is the desire for it. I don’t know where it went from, maybe earlier life was simpler (no) and it was possible to work for shalupotnich every day (either not either, but you never know), but a painful craving for work was elevated to the rank of merits in our society.
But what if I say that workaholism is not such a cute, fluffy bunny, how is it painted? After all, it is true that the mother almost praises to her friends that her little basket (even if her son is under forty, three children and a dog) she is so hardworking that she will not rejoice, and now and then the phrase “just a workaholic I have it! ” If mothers clearly knew what “joys” workaholism promises, they would not be so optimistic.
Workaholism as it is
In general, the term “workaholism” appeared relatively recently and was introduced into use by Wayne Wats in his book “The Confession of a Workaholic” of the 1971 edition. At the same time, it is believed that workaholism precedes precisely the above-described professional burnout, but personally I can’t put physical dependence on work with subsequent apathy and denial of professional activity in one row. Rather, workaholism only gets worse over time, because, as in the case of alcoholism in consonance with him, this is a physical addiction.
Now I will give part of the list of signs of workaholism, which are kindly collected in the wiki, choosing the most "tough" of them:
- After hard work, the workaholic cannot switch to another activity.
- Worry about work interferes with him during rest.
- The workaholic believes that satisfaction can only be felt at work.
- A workaholic feels energetic, confident and self-sufficient only by working or thinking about work.
- If he does not work, he feels dissatisfaction and irritation.
- The workaholic does not organically understand the meaning of rest and receiving joy from it.
- He is in panic avoids the state of "doing nothing."
- It is characterized by the words: "all", "always", "I have to."
- Usually, a workaholic sets goals that he cannot achieve, and makes excessive demands on himself.
And now I will describe a series of states of a typical workaholic, in which he exists constantly.
A workaholic can be lazy, it is generally normal for all living things. But, unlike an ordinary person, our victim is getting worse and worse every hour in the physical plane. Just because it does not work.
Rest is not about workaholics at all. No, they rest, sleep, watch a movie, but if ordinary people are distracted and gain energy during their rest, the workaholic is charged with anxiety levels. You know how the feeling before a thunderstorm, or if something bad should happen. It is possible to get rid of this only with a dose of shock labor.
Leave for a workaholic is possible if you deprive him of any opportunity to work. The first 2-3 days he will have a break, after which our nerves will go "under the skin" and lie low to begin to "pump" the nervous system of the workaholic with a vengeance upon returning home.
Do not confuse workaholism and hard work
Many people do not share workaholism and hard work, believing that both of these phenomena are the same. Very often, people who simply can quickly "get together" are attributed to the traits of workaholics. This is not true.
First of all, you need to realize that workaholism is an extremely painful and, in the long term, dangerous state of the human psyche. Workaholism does not give superpower, productivity and other "Stakhanov" buns with which it is associated. A workaholic can be lethargic, exhausted, have problems concentrating. He is distinguished from just a hardworking person by the fact that he is physically ill without the work process itself .
At the same time, the results of labor fade into the background: as soon as the workaholic copes with the task entrusted to him, the result instantly depreciates, he is no longer important. It is only important to receive and perform the next task.
More workaholics do not know how to "work on credit." No matter how many hours you worked yesterday, today you also need to do something useful. Nervousness is not affected by neither the complexity nor the number of tasks. They all disappear, as if in a black hole, and the workaholic goes in search of a new “dose”. In general, the analogy with any kind of drug addiction most clearly characterizes the condition of a workaholic. The same dissatisfaction, the same physical dependence, the same search for a new dose. The longer the workaholic stays idle for objective or subjective reasons, the more stress he accumulates. And getting rid of this condition is almost impossible.
Groups at risk and how to live with it
In the "risk group" you can write all the colors and sizes of freelancers, but in fact no one is protected from this neurosis. How to deal with it is also not clear. On the one hand, workaholism seems to be useful. At least profitable. In addition, the problem of workaholics successfully silenced, and the business is encouraged at all, because such people are extremely valuable and profitable. Themselves workaholics, like avid addicts - do not want to be treated and will not.
I did not come across such a term as "the fight against workaholism." Society perceives this nerve at the level of a joke: “Oh, well, it works, and well. Everyone is working! ”An ordinary person simply does not understand the painful state of a workaholic, and out of ignorance, he may even be envious.
They live with this phenomenon mostly in silence, sometimes for a long time. The constant stress that you don’t work or you don’t work out enough exhausts and burns internal resources. It would seem that a burnout should be the logical outcome of such a state, but this does not always happen. At the same time, workaholics are often clearly aware of their own problems, but they follow the path of least resistance: work and calm down for a while. When you live in the state of "compressed spring" for many years, such a destructive tactic seems to be the best way out. Just work, close a couple of tasks, and then a couple more. Tomorrow there will be a new day, new tasks, then you have to go through the weekend and Monday morning, and you're back on the horse.
But there is a question: will the nervous system sustain such a rhythm and will you reach old age?
And there is no answer to it, because workaholism is supposedly not a problem, and there is nothing to discuss it.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/430122/
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