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I’m getting a little tired of Gen Y bloggers proudly flouting their “workaholism” in post after post of how they love their jobs, don’t see a need for work/life balance anymore and question whether or not their relationships are holding them back.
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Comments
07.28.09
I dont know if we are workaholics as much as we are truly passionate about what we do. To as whether or not we are workaholics is to frame the question in a way that implies either you are right or that we are workaholics, not a very fair question. The best way to ask this is to simply inquire, "What is our relationship to our work?" This allows for the context of the individual to truly be represented.
07.28.09
I find it interesting that, until recently, the term 'workaholic' was a negative thing, usually describing an absentee spouse or parent. Now, all of a sudden it's a claim to fame? I just don't see it.
I agree that it's more than OK to love your job (if you're that fortunate) and to put forth the extra effort to get ahead. But to sacrifice your health (both physical and mental) and forgo all the other important aspects of your life is short-sighted, to say the least.
No one ever said on their deathbed "I wish I spent more time at the office".
07.28.09
@Bret
You can be passionate about what you are doing and still have room in your life for other things. I was passionate about computers as a kid - does that make the 15 hours/day that I spent in front of a monitor every summer OK? Probably not :-)
07.28.09
i guess it's alright to be passionate about one's job as it's an indication that you love what you do and doing so would mean your job input is greater than most. could a person who feels that way about his job called a "workaholic?" i don't think so. for me, a workaholic is a person who sees no rhyme or reason in spending most of his waking hours "working".
07.28.09
I love my job, but I'm not *in love* with my job.
I don't mind being here every day and occasionally putting in some extra hours when required but I'm not about to dedicate my life to this place.
07.28.09
There comes a time in life when it's cooler to be a "parentaholic" than a workaholic. You may as well prepare yourself for that now. Work isn't everything.
07.28.09
I'm Gen Y and I love my job, but I DO have a work-life balance. I love having a work-life balance.
In college I worked pretty hard, had employment and multiple internships so my friend called me a workaholic. I do have those tendencies, so I'm highly aware of it. However, my family, friends and social experiences are valuable to me. I'm going to remember the trip I took with my best friends (while unplugging, turning off my phone/computer) versus the one day I had at a job that I will inevitably move on from to another position. That's point blank and I think as Generation Y I like to indulge and enjoy pieces of life.
I made a new years resolution to unplug completely one day a week. It is usually Saturday for me and although I don't do it everytime, usually I spend the day with friends, go out at night, go away for the day hiking or snowboarding, etc. and I love it. I think I do better at my job because I allow myself to live and breathe! Great thoughts!
07.28.09
It's an unsettling feeling to leave a job to which you gave every hour of daylight (and too many dark hours) only to realize that you can't remember what you enjoy doing in your spare time. I just feel lucky I confronted that in my 20s and not at 65.
Your first couple of paragraphs were also interesting... I have often learned through opinions--having my own, debating with others... But more and more, I realize how little I seemed to know even the previous day, so my opinions are becoming more fluid than ever--at least about those things that don't truly matter. I expect I'll curse the permanence of the web many times throughout my life, but I can appreciate that it won't let me reconstruct where I came from.
07.28.09
Like anything else, you have to work hard to get ahead. Change will happen along with gaining new responsibilities, but we might as well build ourselves while we are young and have the freedom to be involved in anything we choose to do. I wouldn't say that we are workaholics if we enjoy what we do!
07.28.09
Holly - I applaud your maturity, pragmatism and honesty. Too many of us were the product of career parents, and wear our over-achieving badges on our shirtsleeves. Sure, we're workaholics -- until it stops being where we're at in life and interrupts with the other goals that we set in our lives. I hope those workaholic kids don't wake up at 35 without real relationships with friends or significant others, having found meaning in life outside of the workplace. As a laid-off Gen Yer, you very quickly realize what really matters. It doesn't mean I won't work my butt off to get where I want to be, but workaholism has no room in my life.
07.28.09
It's hard to condemn someone for being a workaholic when Corporate America encourages that kind of behavior. When I worked at EYS, Inc, it was simply assumed you would put in at least 65 hours a week as a salaried employee.
We get so much reinforcement, both positive (bonus, praise) and negative (lay-offs) to encourage workaholic behavior it’s completely understandable how someone can focus only on work to the detriment of a personal life.
07.28.09
This generation didn't invent workacholic work weeks. I've observed behavior in some of the Gen X people I know where they live to work. It's similar to what I observed in some of my colleages back when I started my first job.
I was fortunate to have a boss early in my career that stressed the importance of balance. I would work at my desk and he made a point of pushing me to at at our cafeteria. He knew that programmers like me are most creative and productive when they are balanced.
At about year ten of my career, I worked on a project where we worked 70 plus hour weeks for a years time. As the lead quality manager, I observed what happens when programmers and engineers are tired, dealing with home life stress and how determental it can be to software quality.
Working that hard has personal and professional impacts and I've got a number of articles to that effect at www.CareerJockey.org.
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