I wanted to point out an excellent segment from this past week’s CBS Sunday Morning show entitled, Labor Intensive: Workaholics Take a Decidedly Labor Intensive Approach to Life”.
I was interviewed by the producer of this segment a few weeks back and I was pleased to see that they clearly separated those who happily choose to work long hours from those who work long hours and are miserable. While they may look the same on the outside, they are very different because one is a workaholic and one is not. The difference is that for the one who is happily working long hours it is a conscious choice supported by their work and personal circumstances. For the workaholic, the long hours aren’t a choice, and their realities don’t support what they are doing and they suffer as a result both personally and professionally.
Why is this distinction important? Because we need to make work+life fit choices based upon our unique realities, and not judge one another as to whether they are right or wrong. This is why I believe it is work+life fit and not work/life balance. But we also have to recognize the signs that our “fit” isn’t working and know when we need to make an adjustment.