The Young Workaholics: Take A Break While You Can!

People who work “full-time” 

‘Workaholic’ is a familiar term, meaning people who are addicted to working. Many young people nowadays like to be considered as ‘workaholics’ because they enjoy the feeling of being busy, which creates the feeling of recognition and showcasing their values for themselves and society. Many cases are suffering from FOMO – the fear of missing out on important changes which in turn exposes themselves to late deadlines, or to judgments as not being fully committed to their jobs.

Thu Hồng (PR specialist) shared about her FOMO at work: “Even though I was on leave, I never miss any messages and have those tasks done as soon as possible. People around often feel pity for me as I even have to work on my days off. However, incorporating work into my daily life makes me feel comfortable and confident when I have all my tasks in control”. 

Take a break before it’s too late 

Ms. Nguyễn Thị An Hà – Marketing and Strategic Partnership Director of Talentnet commends: “Being workaholic is the way employees adapt to a world that is constantly changing and is not limited by time or geography. The willingness to work makes them proactively take control of their daily lives and provides more opportunities for career progression. However, there are two sides to every coin, Work addiction can lead to health problems as well as affect employees’ mindset and expertise.” 

In fact, working nonstop is detrimental to oneself. BetterUp research proves that working 45 hours a week will ruin the productivity of most employees. If we look at the physical aspect, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that working more than 55 hours a week increases the risk of stroke by 35% and the risk of dying from ischemic heart disease by 17%. On the mental aspect, overwork leads to burnout and depression, as well as affects work performance and relationships. According to Mindhealth.org, 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their life and you can experience this problem sooner with stressful work life.

Resting helps the body to take a break from stress. Your mental, physical, and brain can recharge and fill with more positivities in creativity, memory, mindset, the ability to provide wise decisions, etc. Resting also provides employees with time to review and restructure their workflow.

Make resting compulsory 

On the other hand, businesses are putting the health of their employees as a top priority and treating it as one of the most important criteria to evaluate the business’s success. Instead of working time, many leaders are now focusing more on evaluating employees based on the quality of their outputs and even appreciating employees who can balance their work and life.

Businesses play an important role in stopping employees from working while on leave and facilitating their recreational periods. Ms. An Hà suggested: “Businesses should not only provide more days off with different purposes, but they should also create more opportunities for employees to rest. Many progressive businesses in Vietnam have implemented programs such as ‘rest week’, ‘health day’, etc. These initiatives not only help employees overcome the fear of FOMO but also help businesses improve their image towards employees.” 

Source: Nhịp Cầu Đầu Tư