When a Workaholic Takes a Vacation
Key Insights:
Working obsessively can even be unhealthy when you love your job
Everyone needs to switch off from work now and then to let their body recover
There are three rules to pick the right activity after work to recover well
When I’m at my parents’ in the Netherlands, the days follow the same routine. It is predictable, perhaps boring at times, but it offers a strange form of comfort. It was around 10:30 in the morning. My son and I had just finished another game of soccer. The church bell sounded once, announcing the half hour. My son, growing up in Canada, didn’t understand why the bells were ringing. They sound once every half hour, and on the hour, the times of the hour. Then, for a longer period at 8:45 am and 6 pm, to signal that it is time for prayers. I doubted that many people were still praying at these set times. Although maybe they did. My parents’ fixed schedule was the perfect example of how hard it is to change a habit.
Because it was 10:30 am, I asked my parents if they would like coffee. Sitting down with coffee and stroopwafels, my dad told me that my presentation on workaholism had really made him think. In my presentation, I talked about the impact on your health of working long hours versus working compulsively. My dad mentioned that he likely fell into the category of workaholics. Workaholics work excessively (more than financially necessary or socially expected) and compulsively (having an inner drive to work and prioritize work). However, my dad objected; he had always loved his job. He retired a few years ago after a successful career as a personal injury lawyer. I had worked as a secretary at his firm during high school and university Summer vacations. I could tell firsthand that he had loved his job.
Many workaholics love their jobs, but in a study I conducted with Professor Nancy Rothbard from the University of Pennsylvania, our results show that their health is still adversely affected. I had bluntly summarized the findings of this study during my talk - loving your job while obsessing over your work might not kill you, but it can lead to sleep problems, recurring sinus infections, headaches, and chest pain. That is because, whether you love your job or not, everyone needs to recover at some point. If you don’t give your body the rest it needs, it will shut down in one way or another. Your body will let you know.
My dad said he had never experienced his body shutting down. I challenged him that he might never have been a true workaholic. Maybe he worked a lot, and he clearly loved his job. I’m less certain about an obsession or inner compulsive drive that made him work so much. He spent lots of time on recovery activities after work, such as speed skating and biking. My dad retorted that he would almost be bummed out having to go on vacation (apparently, that is a hereditary trait). We camped for three weeks in France each Summer. To leave work for three weeks, he needed to thoroughly organize every case so his colleagues could easily step in. After plowing through his many cases, he would finally feel that he had all his ducks in a row. Feeling caught up is an incredible motivator to continue work and, for once, be ahead of the game. Yet, at home, four kids and his wife were waiting for my dad to put all the bags my mom had diligently packed, with perfect precision, in the back of our Volvo.
You would think my dad would be grumpy on vacation, at a minimum, for the first couple of days. Yet, I don’t recall my dad being grumpy much, if at all. Instead, he always had energy to do many activities. I recall following my dad on my road bike along narrow, steep roads, passing through various quaint French villages, wondering if we would ever reach the campsite again. Instead, we biked through yet another village where a bunch of older men play jeu-de-boules in the shade, sipping their pastis.
From my own memories, it seems my dad was an expert at shutting down work. He would go on that vacation, because he promised, and he would be present and enjoy it. Similarly, every Tuesday and some Thursdays, he would come home from work, have a quick dinner, and then take my sister and me to the ice rink for speed skating practice. Meanwhile, my dad skated as many laps as possible in an hour. I would come home late and exhausted, climbing into bed immediately, but my dad would open his dossiers and prepare a case until 1:00 in the morning.
How did he do this? Where did he find the energy? Part of it was that my dad did all the things he loved. He loved his work, he loved exercise, and it was a bonus that he could practice his favorite sport with us. But what helped him most was alternating intense work periods with periods of switching off. Upon departure, he might have grumbled about having to leave work, but once he was on vacation, he was fully there. It was the same with speed skating and road biking after work - he was truly away from work on those workouts. Research shows over and over again that working hard can be fine, as long as you take time for your body to relax and for your mind to detach. In a study together with Professor John Trougakos from the University of Toronto, we found that people wake up less exhausted and with more vigor if they spent the previous evening on leisure activities they truly enjoyed.
This means you should be as deliberate about how you spend your time after work as you are about deciding what work you do. Off-job activities in which you get completely engrossed work well. They give your mind a break from work. There are two other rules for picking the best activities after work. Pick something you enjoy, and pick something that is quite different from your work. The second rule means that you give the resources you depleted during the day a break. If you sit behind a desk all day, go with an activity that is more active, whereas relaxing makes sense if you’ve been on your feet all day. Following the same logic, do something with others if you worked alone most of the day, or do something on your own if you have interacted with others all day. Choosing the right activity (and vacation) recharges your battery, leaving you full of energy for work the next day. “Work hard, play hard” can thus certainly keep you healthy if you enjoy work and play. But my dad had another secret weapon, which I will write about in the next blog.