Modifying workaholism

  Workaholism is an ‘addiction’ to work, which results in a noticeable disturbance on the rest of the individual’s life. The workaholic employee typically presents with a Type A personality profile. Such individuals are highly competitive, hostile, impatient, always in a hurry, take on too much work and feeling guilty about relaxing. Many Type A individuals argue that they just do not want to change, or that everything would be fine if other people would stop being so inefficient. However, research has shown that Type A individuals are more prone to stress related illness and burnout than more relaxed and easygoing Type B personalities. Unfortunately, Type A attitudes and behaviours are very much rewarded in our Western culture in terms of financial rewards, career advancement and status. They are also encouraged by many employers since they lead to higher productivity. Workaholics also have a tendency to over-identify with their work. Over-identification means that a major part of a person’s identity and sense of self-worth is derived from the job that they do. They believe that their ‘self-worth is proportional to their achievements at work’, that they ‘can only earn the right to be happy through hard work’ and that ‘success at work is the only route to self-esteem’. As a result of these beliefs they can become a slave to their work. Such individuals dedicate very little time to non-work activities and tend to see themselves personally and their social status in terms of a job label. This is potentially a risky thing to do since having all one’s eggs in one basket, so to speak, means that if that basket is dropped (i.e., they lose their job), their whole life is shattered. Problems can also arise in the workaholic’s personal life, since it is likely that their partner may eventually get fed up with their unavailability and inability to get the balance between work and home life right. This can result in marital disharmony and ultimately even divorce.

Modifying workaholism involves identifying and challenging the dysfunctional attitudes associated with Type A personality traits and over-identification. The workaholic’s relationship to their work needs to be changed from one of continual striving to achieve at an unrelenting pace, to a more relaxed one. The link between work and self-worth also needs to be challenged. The first step is to self-monitor using thoughts diary sheets in order to identify examples of the workaholic attitudes that need to be challenged. The standard cognitive techniques outlined earlier in this chapter can be employed to identify and challenge their dysfunctional beliefs and assumptions about the workaholic’s relationship with their work. They need to consider alternative ways of thinking such as ‘It is possible to be happy without all the trappings of success such as wealth, possessions and high job status’, ‘Success and happiness are not the same thing’, ‘My world will not fall apart if I take my foot off the pedal’, ‘Type A behaviour can be physically and psychologically damaging to my health’ and ‘There are other roots to self-worth and happiness apart from work’.

Behavioural experiments can also be an effective way of disconfirming the dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes associated with workaholism. The individual needs to be prepared to take the risk of trying new ways of relating to their work and life outside work. For example, the Type A individual needs to practise speaking deliberately more slowly, becoming less competitive and hostile, giving in now and again, going the long way round when travelling somewhere, hiding their watch, scheduling a rest period in the middle of a busy day, focusing more on quality than speed or quantity and taking time to observe others and listen to them. The over-identifier needs to take the risk of finding alternative roots to status and self-esteem outside of work. The outcomes of such behavioural experiments should serve to disconfirm and weaken their dysfunctional beliefs by demonstrating that their worst negative fears and predictions do not materialize.