What do you think motivates workaholics?

So I know people who are workaholics. They work 100 hours per week, not an exaggeration. They have no time for family or friends or hobbies. They make lots of money but don't ever have time to spend it. They come home from the office at 1:00 am and get up again at 6:00 am to do it all over again, seven days a week. It is an incredible, ridiculous grind. They don't seem to love their jobs. Not hate, but not love. They are constantly exhausted.

This is just something I have been thinking about. I'm thinking of going to law school and I know many corporate lawyers work 70-80 hours per week and their clients in finance pull 110 hour weeks. People on WallStreet literally die from exhaustion. In 2015, there are people dying from being overworked. There are lots of these people out there. What do you think is the motivation? Maybe money, but like I said they don't spend it! They don't have time to travel or go to the mall or look at lots of nice houses. I just don't get it. I'm not judging at all, more power to them. I'm just curious as to why they might do it. I'm all for working hard, but I will never stay in a job that works me more than 65 hours per week on average. That to me is working plenty hard. Thoughts?

Workaholics let work become an obsession - it is a mental aberration just like alcoholics or drug addicts.

Workaholics need an intervention and professional help.

The next drink of workahol?

Nah, I haven't a clue what drives that kind of person. I've known a few, but that kind of thing is beyond me. Bad enough getting myself to do what I actually need to do on a daily basis.

The most workaholics that I don't know tend to be control freaks. The thought of someone else doing the job or helping causes a lot of stress.

It is an addiction that wears a halo.

I know a couple and for example this workaholic I know is 81 years old and doesn't want to retire or stop working. Some days he works 12 hours a day and I have asked him why he doesn't retire or go on cruises or casinos or something but he refuses. He says he will get bored if he stops working. He says he wants to stay busy. He has his own business and does a lot of the work himself instead of getting help. He looks like he's 60 though.

If you really want an answer to your question, google will provide you with no end of psychological studies on the subject. In short, many people who are caught in this trap, put themselves into the victim role and become convinced that the business won't operate without them. It can also be the case that they are seeking confirmation for what they are doing. A good manager should be able to recognize what is happening and nip it in the bud, but many of them are more interested in having an employee do the work of two people...

Someone has to do it, since everyone else seems to put it off.

I went through a phase for a few years where I let work really take over everything else. It was a combination of things: I worked my way up in a job where we went from pretty damn broke to pretty comfortable. I do not have a college degree, so my options in "comfortable" were pretty limited. The never ending fear of losing that position drove me to try to become invaluable. I had an inability to let things go after normal work hours. It was an obsession. I almost never sat down without having my laptop open, working. Basically, I wasn't worrying about the light bill or buying a boat or a new car, but I was miserable. I drank coffee fourteen hours a day, then bourbon (hard) for four to "relax".

i don't know exactly why I cut back. Combination of missing my family, severe high blood pressure, seeing other people get fired or laid off and realizing that nobody is indespensible for more than the time it takes your chair to get cold. I still work some overtime every week, it's just the nature of the beast, but it's reasonable now.

Guess I got to an age where I could see the tipping point and decided life is too short.

JaredB said:

I went through a phase for a few years where I let work really take over everything else. It was a combination of things: I worked my way up in a job where we went from pretty damn broke to pretty comfortable. I do not have a college degree, so my options in "comfortable" were pretty limited. The never ending fear of losing that position drove me to try to become invaluable. I had an inability to let things go after normal work hours. It was an obsession. I almost never sat down without having my laptop open, working. Basically, I wasn't worrying about the light bill or buying a boat or a new car, but I was miserable. I drank coffee fourteen hours a day, then bourbon (hard) for four to "relax".

i don't know exactly why I cut back. Combination of missing my family, severe high blood pressure, seeing other people get fired or laid off and realizing that nobody is indespensible for more than the time it takes your chair to get cold. I still work some overtime every week, it's just the nature of the beast, but it's reasonable now.

Guess I got to an age where I could see the tipping point and decided life is too short.

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wow I understand now why you worked so much. Great post

Others nailed it but I'd like to put it a slightly different way. It's an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, one of the several neuroses in existance.

Not part of the stipulation presented, but some do just enjoy working constantly. If you like what you do, and you enjoy the people around you, why not get paid for having a good time.

Or maybe the fact that in America, to own a good home in a decent neighborhood, buy health insurance, decent food, a new car from time to time, clothing, put the kids in decent school, take a vacation and save for retirement, it takes 100 hours a week?

aldomarino said:

Or maybe the fact that in America, to own a good home in a decent neighborhood, buy health insurance, decent food, a new car from time to time, clothing, put the kids in decent school, take a vacation and save for retirement, it takes 100 hours a week?

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You pretty much nailed it there. I mean wants vs. needs comes into play when you get to the individual level, but in general you are spot on.

I cannot imagine the motivation behind that kind of obsession, unless the person owns their business. The effort required to launch and maintain a successful business can be herculean, and once started, I've known people that just cannot seem to stop. I strive for balance in my life, and do not sacrifice my family time unnecessarily.

I recently retired from the military and it's full of workaholics. Probably lots of factors at work there. If you don't do your job well, it can get people killed. That's a pretty serious motivator to work very hard. And then if you don't work as hard as someone else, you're viewed as a slacker so there's some peer pressure at work. Even some competition over who can work hardest (or at least put in the most hours). When you're deployed there's not much to do besides work, eat, and maybe go to the gym.

I'm a recovering workaholic. After getting divorced, and then spending the next year working harder than ever, I realized this probably wasn't a very smart way to live my life. So I started slowly trying to get my tendencies under control. I'm still working on it

No clue but I know for sure I don't suffer from this.

One time, a long time ago, I worked 96 hours in one week. You know what I got for it? A big check. That was it. Not even a simple thanks from the boss.

Over the past few years I have put up the wall to separate my work life from my home life.

The folks that work 100 hour weeks and don't do it for the money are doing for a physiological reason.

I'm not a shrink so I'm not sure.

I just know.....this guy...not gonna happen

I've noticed that those that work all the time are much different than those of use that only work 40 hours a week. The workaholics tend to offer complex solutions to simple problems and often waste time on things that add no value. Those of us that are lazy only do what's value added and typically automate our tasks. I would rather have a team of lazy procrastinators than a team of workaholics.

I have a hard time believing anyone is effective working 100 hours per week on any kind of sustained basis. If I were their employer/client that would change quickly (reduction in hours or fired). 100 hours of work means that after sleeping, shower and commute there is no time left to eat or attend to other important functions, unless they are sleeping under their desk.

A slight aside, but since you mentioned law school and sort of mental health, this link might provide some worth reading stats.

Mental health for lawyers, solicitors, barristers etc is an area where more work needs to be done on prevention and education...

http://www.lawsociety.com.au/about/YoungLawyers/MentalHealth/Statistics/index.htm

Not at all to put you off, it's surely a challenging job but also one that can be meaningful and rewarding. Support can be found yet perhaps half the battle is stigma or awareness.