What Exactly is Workaholism?

There's a neat little diagnostic on CNN.com that allows people to self-diagnose whether they're a workaholic. After I completed 25 questions, I ended up rating just basely non-workaholic. I wasn't surprised, as I think I try to reasonably balance my work and life commitments, and at least as of this post, my kids recognize who I am and greet me happily when I return from work.

But it did get me thinking: what exactly is a workaholic? If you base it on the diagnostic, here are the attributes and telltale signs:

1. You prefer to do most things rather than ask for help.
2. You get impatient when you have to wait for someone else or when something takes too long.
3. You seem to be in a hurry and racing against the clock.
4. You get irritated when you are interrupted while your are in the middle of something.
5. You stay busy and keep many irons in the fire.
6. You find myself doing two or three things at one time, such as eating lunch and writing a memo while talking on the phone.
7. You over commit myself by biting off more than you can chew.
8. You feel guilty when you are not working on something.
9. It's important that you see the concrete results of what you do.
10. You are more interested in the final result of your work than in the process.
11. Things just seem to move fast enough or get done fast enough for you.
12. You lose your temper when things don't go your way or work out to suit you.
13. You ask the same question over again after you've already been given the answer once.
14. You spend a lot of time mentally planning and thinking about future events while tuning out the here and now.
15. You find yourself continuing to work after your coworkers have called it quits.
16. You get angry when people don't meet your standards of perfection.
17. You get upset when you are in situations where you cannot be in control.
18. You tend to put myself under pressure from self-imposed deadlines when you work.
19. It is hard for me to relax when You'm not working.
20. You spend more time working than socializing with friends or on hobbies or leisure activities.
21. You dive into projects to get a head start before all the phases have been finalized.
22. You get upset with yourself for making even the smallest mistake.
23. You put more thought, time and energy into your work than you do your relationships with loved ones and friends.
24. You forget, ignore or minimize celebrations such as birthdays, reunions, anniversaries or holidays.
25. You make important decisions before you have all the facts and have a chance to think them through.

I have no way of assessing the scientific accuracy of this diagnostic, nor do I have know of a universally agreed-upon standard around the definition of a workaholic. But some of the traits above seem to be consistent with a healthy work ethic, others seem to be consistent with OCD and others seem to have less relevance to an attitude towards work as opposed to being an irritable jackass.

I think the heart of workaholism basically comes down to this: How much do you enjoy your job or the benefits (e.g. money, power, sense of accomplishment) of your job compared to the rest of your life? Do you live to work, or do you work to live? Do you view your job as the primarily means of currency to allow enable you to have a life outside of it, or do you view the rest of your life as a secondary or parallel component of your career fruits and progression?

I'm not necessarily putting a value judgment on this. but rather speaking to an ethos which many people have. Many will say that work is its own reward, that if work had not monetary benefit, they'd still do it because it's the feeling of "productivity" and "accomplishment" and the process of work itself feels good, akin to a person who plays recreational sports not because they get a dime out of it, but because it's enjoyable. This is like the guy who wins the Powerball and decides to keep working because either (1) they still want more money or (2) they like the way that vocational work makes them feel, including the camaraderie, the activity and the feeling of accomplishment.

Reason #1 probably speaks to an insatiable desire to accumulate wealth. A'la Bud Fox and Gordon Gekko's exchange in the movie Wall Street (where Gekko really answers in a really abstract way):

Bud Fox: How much is enough, Gordon? When does it all end, huh? How many yachts can you water-ski behind? How much is enough, huh?

Gordon Gekko: It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another.

Reason #2 comes down to, plain and simple, liking your life at work more than your life at home. Would you prefer to spend time, eat meals and interact with your family? Or would you rather spend time, eat meals and interact with your co-workers, clients and your computer in a work environment. Maybe as much as people would hate to admit it, choosing the life where you need not emotionally invest in relationships and you can freely be self-focused or put on a fictional persona can be more alluring at times than real life. Maybe that's why some people throw themselves in SimLife, Second Life, and other role playing in virtual online worlds. Maybe that's why some people are workaholics.