The Danger of Young Workaholics

What is it that drives us as new professionals to feel like we need to be workaholics just to be accepted into the profession? Why is it that we think we have to work a sizeable amount of overtime just to justify our time at our place of work?

Earlier today, I read an article by Erin White of the Wall Street Journal, who reported on the trend of growing workaholics in America. White noted the increased anxiety faced by young professionals when they try to approach their boss to take time off from work. The problem, of course, is that new professionals who do become workaholics often face an early burnout in their careers. I think there is another danger as well – developing the unrealistic expectation that everyone else should be workaholics.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s vitally important that young professionals go above and beyond the expected work they are assigned. Working smarter can’t compensate for laziness. Hard work is a value that no one can argue. But why is it that someone is only a hard worker if they’ve worked enough hours of overtime to neglect the other important areas of life, such as health, family and personal sanity?

This is such a stirring issue to me because I am aware of friends in the profession who are burning out, who have a pessimistic view of public relations and the work associated with it. I’ve heard stories of friends who have worked almost 100 hours a week on a consistent basis just to meet regular everyday expectations of their superiors. And I clearly remember when I was told by an executive of a high profile agency in L.A. that I would be hard pressed to have a successful career in public relations and to be a good father at the same time.

To all of those who preach or listen to the workaholic doctrine, I want to shout out, “Stop. You don’t have to be this way to be successful.”

One of those tongue-in-cheek demotivational posters called incompetence reads, “When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there's no end to what you can't do.” Although the poster makes me sad inside, it does reveal a certain amount of truth. Young professionals do not have to be workaholics to become skilled and talented. It’s much more effective for us as young professionals to focus on consistent improvement over time as well as a determination to constantly improve our use of time. If we don’t, we may prematurely give up on this fantastically helpful and powerful profession of public relations.