Um … hi everybody. My name is Eutychus and I … I’m a workaholic.
(Crowd … “Hi Euty!”)
We’re very behind at work. The boss has a ton of backorders that we need to work on and get out. We currently have five presses and only six pressmen to cover two shifts; why we can’t get or keep more pressmen is a subject for another thread. I have a vacation scheduled for next week; I’ve had the vacation scheduled since the first of the year.
And I just found out tonight that I have to take tomorrow off. My youngest, it turns out, has developed a hernia and while it’s not life threatening (at this point at least) the doctors want to get it taken care of as soon as possible.
But the bad part is that I can’t help but feel a tremendous amount of guilt for taking the time that I need off. I need the vacation and I need to take my son to the doctor tomorrow. I also know that they need me at work, but that in these two cases my personal life has to take precedence over work. Still, there’s the guilt.
I too am a workaholic. I took my last vacation in 97, and that was because I’d quit a job. I know I should go home and spend time with the family but I just can’t let this work go undone. And what if somebody outshines me, tell me, what?
Don’t feel guilty about taking off time for the kids surjury(sp?) though, it’s likely to be real scary for him/her.
Walked 7 miles through snowdrifts 2 feet high to get to work;
worked a total of 38 hours straight during another snowstorm;
haven’t taken more than a week off at a time ever.
Have a total of 8 weeks vacation time and 24 weeks sick leave accumulated.
Last spring, my son went into the hospital, (4 days total, 3 days ICU). During the time he was in the hospital, I called my company’s major funding sources to let them know that if they tried to contact me for the next while, I might not be able to quickly respond to their requests.
Hope your child gets through this. Your co-workers DO understand, I believe.
my best to you. Our meetings are M-F during lunch hours (so we don’t take time off work)…
Euty, I’d slap you, but then I’d feel guilty. But here’s a little tough love:
Nobody is indispensible to their job. If you died tomorrow, your work would still get done – by your replacement. Even if you were Lord High Kahuna El Presidente Numero Uno of the world and you were assassinated, the world would go on without you.
You are indispensible to your son. He has to go to the doctor (yikes!) to have a probably not-terribly-pleasant procedure, and it will mean everything to him to have you with him.
“Nobody ever said on their deathbed ‘I wish I’d spent more time at work.’”
Take your vacation, comfort your son, and remind yourself that while what you do for a living does not define who you are, what you do for, to, and with your family probably does. Leave the guilt at the office; it’ll be waiting for you when you get back (along with all those piles of work). Go have fun!
The following may or may not apply to your situation, Eutychus55. But here’s some general thinking on workaholism.
From what I’ve read and seen, the trend these days in the business world seems to be toward actively encouraging employees to take time off when they’ve earned it. There’s a recognition that the work environment is more stressful than it used to be, and that this can impact the company’s bottom line. Overworked employees keel over with heart attacks, suffer higher illness rates, and work less productively. Workaholics are less rested and suffer from more stress in their home lives (divorces, etc.), leading to inefficiency and bad decisions at work. My own company allows us to accrue leave up to a certain limit and then it imposes automatic disciplinary action if we don’t take at least half our annual leave each year once we have reached that limit.
In addition, I’ve heard of company officers who refuse to promote workaholics into leadership positions for fear that they’ll drive their subordinates into the ground and destroy morale. I’ve also heard of company officers who see workaholism as a sign of an inefficient employee. They figure you ought to be able to get the day’s work done in 8 hours. If you’re overburdened, then it’s up to the company to address that by hiring more people or accepting lower production output.
I understand that your company may or may not accept these philosophies. I also understand that your company is shorthanded right now. But the shorthandedness may last into the indefinite future, and your boss has had plenty of time to prepare for your vacation by cross-training someone else or hiring a temp. Meantime, an employee demonstrates positive virtues when he insists on showing a little balance in his life and giving fair time to his family.
So take the vacation without guilt. It’s good for the company!
