Workaholism

Going through the online edition of Gulf News, found the linked article on Workaholism and the reasons / results that this habit brings across. Very valid points, well researched and factual. A big introspective and a reality check question.

Most of the reasons I found were valid. The desire to grow, the drive to compete, the insecurity in the country, your desire to make money as long as you can, the worry of providing for dependents. Incompentancy in people, the fear of going on leave.. I have seen them all.

I also recall the article on Ranjan Das the young CEO of SAP India who passed away (What killed SAP CEO Ranjan Das and lessons for corporate India) and a thought comes across. He did not fit the profile as has been defined, however work still killed him (Who ever said Hard work never killed any one, was lost out on this). He was certainly not incompetent, nor did he have to worry about providing for dependents.. Rat race.. Probably yes, insecurity.. Probably not... So what drove him to outpeform

As a self admitted workaholic, I could not but find similar traits on some of the points listed. There are many of us, who in our quest to prove ourselves and the the fact that we are not happy to sit on past achievements, have reached a point of wanting to better ourselves.. It starts as a simple game, and then lands into an addiction. Where this line of reality and fiction cross, where we believe that work addiction is equal to hard work one never knows. One can never define. It transgresses all our thoughts, and becomes a part of us..

We go to gatherings, we meet people, we talk about every thing, however at the back of your mind, work is still on. You meet an office colleage outside, invariably work comes to the fore.. Is that addiction? People may have this habit of tuning off once they leave the office premises and not wanting to come to that element until they walk in the next day, however it has been extremely difficult to agree to that point of view. While one cannot simply live on work, one cannot also detach himself from work. After all how many of us, do not think about our personal chores at work? Do we leave them behind? So, can we similarly leave work behind once we leave office?

I am not promoting that we carry our work along, however work being a part of home life is a reality. There are people who have a firm line between the two and you find this more towards the West than the East. Of course as the new generations come up, they too have a similar line of divide between personal life and professional life, and people do not belive in mixing the two.. A fair balance, an excellent divide if we can stick to it and promote this across countries, that heathly people mean a better community and better cultures.