Are you someone who genuinely enjoys working or are you someone who overburdens themselves with an enormous amount of work, so much so that you don’t have any personal time left for yourself? Though a general hard-working person and a workaholic look similar from the outside, it is wise to know that there are healthier ways to complete tasks without sacrificing your lives – that includes the values we believe in and the people we care for. Here’s how you can distinguish between a workaholic and a plain-old hard worker –
Working With A Purpose Vs. Keeping Busy
The hard worker is a person works with the objective to attain results, and for that they will prioritise and strategize tasks as needed. They know that business has its up and downs, and they must be patient and work accordingly to achieve the same results.
The workaholic suffers from an acute problem of ‘wanting to be busy’ all the time. They want to fill up any free time with work and simply refuse to have any me-time. Though this may sometimes stem up from insecurity, their obsession with work causes them to come to work even when they are sick or have other commitments – hurting others in the process.
Ambitious Vs. Perfectionist
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The hard worker knows their capacity of performance, and will try to improve upon the same bit by bit. They don’t run after perfection but like to improve upon their abilities to achieve better results. They know that they are human and will take a break when they’re unwell or when they have other priorities to look at.
The workaholic strives for perfection and works extremely hard to achieve the results. They have a hard time in prioritising different tasks and tend to depend upon validation by their superiors, colleagues and clients and often work out of fear. The major part of their day is spent in replying to emails and working, and they view non-work activities as a waste of time.
Put Themselves First Vs. Tends To Put Themselves Second
A genuine hard worker has a balanced personality with genuine love for their work, interests and hobbies and a personal life. They put their personal commitments and priorities first, and rejuvenate themselves so that they can perform better at work.
A workaholic puts their work before themselves, and do not give themselves the time to rejuvenate themselves. As a result, they have a tendency to burn out of exhaustion.
Which category do you fall in? Now that you know the fine line between a hard worker and a workaholic, it’s time that you change your approach to your work and step towards a better quality of life.
