I remember from a very young age being terrified of the fact that one day, I was going to enter the work force. Luckily, ever since I found my vocation, this thought started to lose some of its power. Nevertheless, I know for a fact that the day that I will have my career going, I will work 40 hours a week at the very most.
While I intend on making the move from Montreal to Beautiful BC one day, I look up to the philosophy of Scandinavian countries, especially when it comes to their culture in the workplace. Did you know that in Netherlands, the average work week averages around 29 hours, which makes for 4 days a week of work?
The thought alone that it is allowed for physicians to remain in function for shifts as long as 26+ hours over here makes me cringe. That’s even without taking into account the fact that medical errors are way more likely to happen after such a long time on the job. Not to mention that the stakes in the medical field are very high.
While the majority of our time awake is usually spent at work, it doesn’t mean that we should make our whole lives revolve around it. Workaholism does fit into the spectrum of addiction, as in fact, it is a type of behavior that is tied to negative consequences. When one feels compelled to work at every hour of every day and can’t get themselves to stop, it crosses the line between what’s healthy and what isn’t. We are only human after all, and overworking yourself does come with a cost. (and possibly a burnout too)
It is essential in life to be willing to find the real Truth masked behind your actions. If you spend all of your awake time working, it may be a sign that you are perhaps using this outlet as a distraction to not see the suffering inside you screaming for your attention. Or overworking yourself may be a way for you to make up for a very low self-esteem, as you base your value on external rewards and validation. No matter the reason underlying this urge to be productive, it is worth finding what it is to address the matter at hand.
We seem to be living in an era that glamorizes a lifestyle that is packed to the max. We sign up our kids for as many extracurricular activities as possible, we leave home super early only to get back after dark, we seem to have this need to fill our agendas as much as humanely possible. But is that desirable? Does that make us feel better at the end of the day? Or in the contrary, does doing so much make us feel depleted the second we take off our coat while arriving home?
I don’t believe that we were designed to live such hectic lives. I personally never felt the need to maintain such a lifestyle. I like to describe my life as one that is "non busy", and it’s actually something that I am proud of. If you like to be constantly on the go and it’s what keeps your momentum going, then that is great. But make sure that you are choosing to do so on your own terms, and that it’s not something that someone has conditioned you into doing. Or that you do it in a way to cover something in your life that needs your attention.
Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, you ought not to feel bad when you choose to take some time for yourself instead of being productive. If all you managed to do today was breathe, that is more than just fine! You are not a machine. The number of tasks you managed to complete on your to do list for today does not make you less than. Be self-compassionate toward yourself. And never forget to allow yourself some time for you without feeling like you don’t deserve it (because that’s a lie).
