Do you get stressed if you are not at work?

Are you always the first to arrive at the office and the last to leave?

Is your mind at the office even when you are not?

If you answered yes to all these questions, you may be a workaholic.  A workaholic is a person who chooses to work:  a person who is always working, thinking about work, etc. In the American work place, it is believed that the business owners and employees who work the hardest reap the most benefits. To a degree, this is true. However, to what end?

Many CEOs, as well as their employees, feel the pressure to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  From checking email and using their Bluetooth to take an “important call” on the way to the office to sending one last email before calling it a day, some executives and employees never take a break.  

Do you want to be the one who is always available?  Does this make you a valuable industry leader?  If you are always reachable via email at 11:45 at night or to answer your phone at 4:30 in the morning, it becomes expected that you will be available 24 hours a day.  To an extent, it is expected that you be available at any time; it is good to be counted on and shows great leadership.  

However, studies show that employees who are “on call” all the time face greater health risks. Depression, alcoholism, and heart disease are common in workaholics.  A 2014 study shows that 40 percent of industry leaders and CEOs suffer from depression, a rate double that of the general public.

Graeme Cowan, a former executive at Johnson & Johnson, believes that the pressure corporate executives face to increase productivity and profitability actually backfires.  In a 2014 article, Cowan is quoted saying “[t]he mental and emotional state of today’s work force is abysmal . . . [a]nd since there’s a stigma around mental health issues, people aren’t seeking help. In fact, despite depression and stress disorders being the biggest source of lost productivity, my research shows that 86 percent of those afflicted would rather suffer in silence. That’s very bad news for employers, who may have a big portion of their workforce struggling along at reduced capacity.”

Sleep deprivation also contributes greatly to lack of productivity. A study performed by the Division of Sleep Medicine at the Harvard Medical School follows a sample of employees who chose to skip sleep in order to be more productive.  However, evidence shows that the temporary feeling of being productive is replaced by sleep deprived, detrimental effects on mood, focus, and higher-level brain function.  The study goes as far as to say that the “the negative effects of sleep deprivation are so great that people who are drunk outperform those lacking sleep.”

How do you break your workaholic habits and become a more productive leader in your industry?  A few suggestions include:

  • Set boundaries related to home and work life.
  • Create clear goals for yourself and your company.

For additional support, we can help you set sales and business strategies, develop a new company brand, or assist with management reorganization—but execute and deliver with life balance in mind.