Not All People Who Work Long Hours Are Workaholics

Not All People Who Work Long Hours Are Workaholics Contrary to popular belief, working long hours and workaholism arent one in the same.A2010 study of 763 employees at the Dutch subsidiary of an international financial consulting firm, published in theThe researchers asked the employees to complete a survey asking about their workaholic tendencies (e.g., I feel guilty when I am leid working on something and I put myself under pressure with self-imposed deadlines when I work), their work skills, their work motivation and their work hours in an average week. They were also asked if theyd experienced various psychosomatic health issues such as headaches or stomach problems. And then they were tasked with signing up for a health screening, which gave the researchers information about their various biomarkers, such as waist measurement, triglycerides, blood pressure and cholesterol. When aggregated, those biomarkers are a reliable gauge for an employees risk of developing cardiovascular d iseases and diabetes, which is referred to as Risk for Metabolic Syndrome (RMS). The researchers also controlled for factors such as gender, age, education and family history of cardiovascular disease.The results show that working long hours (typically mora than 40 hours a week) does not lead to any health issues, but workaholism does. Workaholism, whether or not its combined with working long hours, means obsessing about work and finding it difficult to detach and ongoing rumination often goes hand in hand with stress, anxiety, sleep issues and more. Perhaps thats why workaholicshad more health complaints, had an increased risk for metabolic syndrome and reported a higher need for recovery, more sleep problems, more cynicism, more emotional exhaustion and more depressive feelings than employees whohad only worked long hours but did notexhibit workaholic tendencies.The psychosomatic health complications (e.g., headache, stomach problems) and mental health complaints (e.g., sleep pr oblems, depressive feelings) arent quite as bad for workaholics who love their jobs, but theyre still worse off than those who arent obsessive. Non-engaged workaholics had higher RMS a 4.2 percent higher risk than engaged workaholics. Meanwhile, engaged workaholics reported receiving more social support (e.g., advice, information, appreciation), from their supervisors, co-workers and spouses, than non-engaged workoholics.They scored higher on communication skills, time management skills and general work skills, as well, and they reported much higher intrinsic motivation for work than non-engaged workaholics.The moral of the story is that, even if you love your job, you still need a work-life balance and to be able to turn it off for some time.Focusing on ones engagement and ability to switch off will go a long way in helping employees feel happy at work and outside of it, the researchers suggest. Managers too can intervene by helping employees find intrinsic motivation they can re- engage them in their work and provide more support.--AnnaMarie Houlis is a multimedia journalist and an adventure aficionado with a keen cultural curiosity and an affinity for solo travel. Shes an editor by day and a travel blogger at HerReport.org by night.