Less Talk, More Work Essay

Have you ever thought that there is a greater need to work constantly on a daily basis than to catch up on your social life with family and friends? Work addiction is a growing problem today. Most workaholics seem to put work, a main priority, before anything else such as time spent with others. The obsession with work is due to many reasons. For some people, work is needed to earn money to pay for necessary expenses such as food and bills. However, too much of a workload affects a person mentally, physically, or even both. Stress is one of the many reactions when it comes to constant hours or days spent at work. In â€Å"The Company Man,† written by Ellen Goodman, the main character Phil shows how chaotic he is with himself and with his work that eventually leads to his tragic farewell. The lifestyle of working excessively is common. The idea of becoming a workaholic is to strive for a certain value or feeling for oneself. Goodman’s story of The Company Man illustrates a vivid example of a common workaholic. If a workaholic is spotted, the image is depicted as â€Å"anxious, guilt-ridden, insecure, or self-righteous about †¦work†¦ a slave to a set schedule, merciless in his demands upon himself for peak performance †¦compulsively overcommitted† (Marlowitz 7). This workaholic image illustrates Phil. In Phil’s world, everything he does is directed towards work. As an addict living with a wife and three children, he works nearly every day as well as many nights (Goodman 61). He works for an important company, serving as a vice president (Goodman 60-61). Having a high-level position makes him feel important because he â€Å"worked like the Important People† (Goodman 61). Based on his high position, Goodman hints at Phil’ s pride, a powerful factor influencing his motivation and duty to work. While Phil is driven mainly by pride there are many other reasons why he works too hard. These reasons include his identity, self-respect, self-esteem, self-doubts, pressure from family expectations, perfectionism, a coping mechanism for his negative emotions, and his obsessive-compulsive behavior. Some of the key components of workaholism include intensity, energy, competition, and motivation (Machlowitz 26). Workaholism also includes three other main components such as enjoyment, drive, and work involvement (McMillan). When it comes to workaholic men like Phil, they view themselves as the family caretaker and feel completely responsible for taking care of all the family needs (Killinger 139). This viewpoint brings pressure on workaholic men because they feel that they are expected to ensure that there is both financial protection and emotional well-being in the family (Killinger 139). They must be independent especially with earning money. Money attracts power, freedom, and independence (Schaef 120). Chasing after the goal of money-making is a way for workaholics to ga in achievement, which sets off a powerful drive (Schaef 120). Not only do pressures from the family increase this drive, but the work addict himself plays a factor as well. A workaholic is able to enjoy and love a job if he is fairly good at it. His self-esteem increases with the thought of being good at something. Therefore, he would feel even better and take even greater pride in what he knows and what he is capable of doing. This pride takes over and motivates him to excel and become a perfectionist. However, there comes a moment when perfection gets out of hand and he develops an obsession. A psychological dependence grows out of the addictive behavior from workaholism (McMillan). Work becomes central and all other aspects of life are forgotten (Schaef 119). As compulsive workers, they become obsessed with work and cannot stop (Shimazu). Their drive is ongoing with the thought of taking charge and taking control over everything and everyone (Shimazu). Fears, doubts, and insecurities start to develop inside, which pushes their mindset to work to the full extent. Aside from these feelings, workaholics hold ambitions, enabling them to be superior and competitive at all times, which can bring an overload of stress (Machlowitz 43). Working hard appears to be the only solution to overcome and avoid negative emotions such as anxiety and to gain respect and approval from others (Machlowitz 43). Other reasons for Phil’s obsession with work include his Type A personality and fears of laziness, failure, and loss of control, and. Phil is motivated to work long and hard because he cannot bear the thought of failing. Failure portrays the end of the world to workaholics like Phil; therefore, they must succeed (Machlowitz 41). Another fear is laziness. Ironically, workaholics hold a strange belief that they are naturally lazy (Machlowitz 42). As a result, they drive themselves even harder to avoid falling behind in work. Some, but not all, workaholics develop a Type A personality. This personality consists of negative traits such as impatience, aggressiveness, and competitive impulses (Machlowitz 44). A Type A also includes the need to rush, to work rapidly, and to set aside feelings such as fatigue during working hours (Machlowitz 44). Workaholics hold an illusion over the loss of control (Machlowitz 45). Because of their obsession, they are made to believe they are given all the respect and hold all the power if everything is done only their way and no one else’s (Killinger 8). Work has the ability to consume selfish and demanding feelings in an addict (Killinger 9). Being a workaholic can significantly affect both psychological and physiological health. According to Barbara Killinger, workaholics are at a loss because they suffer through many mixed emotions. Workaholics experience confusion and pressure from their families, doctors, or colleagues which causes them to reduce the amount of hours they work (133). Severe fatigue and exhaustion also occur (133). When they decide to slack off and the work starts piling up, they are at a loss of control, becoming stressed, overwhelmed, and panicky, and experience claustrophobic moments (134). Some, but not all, may feel empty and at a loss for sense of direction (134). They may also become overly sensitive, restless, and easily annoyed (134). They then go into frenzy, taking all things personally (134). Workaholics have a problem with the need to regain control in order to feel satisfied after (134). They know they cannot accept failure and so, the goal is to succeed fully, otherwise, they turn irate and feel worthless (134). However, the more adrenalin they build up into their system, the more constant fatigue they will most likely experience after (134). Barbara Killinger also mentions fatigue as a leading cause of a number of conditions in behavior (134). A pattern of eating and sleeping changes, sexual desires increase or decrease, inability to concentrate, and lack of motivation in work or play. Other signs include isolation from family and friends, memory loss, mental, physical and emotional exhaustion, unreasonable frustration or mistrust, and lack of care and need to distance oneself from a problem (134). In addition to these signs of depression are the harmful responses from anxiety and workaholism. Such responses can include inability to keep calm, nervousness, dizziness, abnormal blood pressure, heart problems, difficulty breathing, and other physiological symptoms (135). As for the psychological responses, these include an increase in stress and defense responses. Once they experience extreme anxiety they may cope by resorting to fantasy and exaggeration (135). Excessive worry and sense of sudden danger occur as well (135). Once workaholics become paranoid, they also experience high levels of doubt. They feel anxious and worry that bad things are about to occur (135). Going back to Phil, he most likely could have experienced one or more of these kinds of signs or symptoms. As the passage states, â€Å"Phil was overweight and nervous and worked too hard. If he wasn’t at the office, he was worried about it. Phil was a Type A, a heart-attack natural.† (Goodman 62). Therefore, he did have three symptoms: nervousness, worry, and heart problems. These symptoms did some serious harm to him. It is no surprise that Phil passed away because of a coronary thrombosis (Goodman 60). Workaholism also affects those around the workaholic. Very often, workaholics do not consider how their behavior affects others, particularly family members. Consider Phil from The Company Man as an example. Work interference puts the role of parenting in jeopardy. Work serves as the main priority. Because Phil works so much, this interferes with his ability to be a good parent (Killinger 159). There are three types of fathers: authoritarian father, indulgent father, and negligent father (Killinger 147). All three types affect children in negative ways (Killinger 147). Phil is the negligent father type. He is oblivious to the needs of his family and engages solely in work (Killinger 147). A lack of communication exists between Phil and his twenty-four-year-old daughter. They have nothing to say to one another (Goodman 61). A lack of interaction also occurs between Phil and his twenty-year-old son who graduated from high school and works various jobs to support himself for food (Goodman 61). Phil is impressed by his son’s good actions of earning money and the son is Phil’s favorite. However, Phil’s absence and his unavailability is such a disappointment, especially for his son. Phil’s son tries so hard to reach out and grab his attention and approval (Killinger 161-62). Although Phil shows little affection by staying up many nights in excessive worry for his son, it is still not enough to say that there is interaction or love between the two because there is none. Sons of missing fathers think as if they don’t belong in society and feel like outsiders (Killinger 162). As a result, these negative thoughts and feelings cause them to turn to drugs and crime or drop out of school (Killinger 162). From the money Phil’s son earns, he uses it to buy â€Å"grass† or drugs (Goodman 61). His action portrays how badly affected he is for the lack of acceptance, personal warmth, and value he desperately needs from his father (Killinger 162). The negative affection is the same for Phil’s forty-eight-year-old wife Helen (Goodman 61). Phil’s constant absences emotionally harm her the most. As a spouse, it is hard to maintain an intimate, loving relationship if the significant other happens to be a work addict (McMillan). Maintaining such a need leads to a bad outcome. Since there is no emotional attachment, care, and intimacy presented, the relationship is put at risk due to work interference (McMillan). In addition, the family is left in dissatisfaction and distress. Phil chooses to give up his social life, an essential value, instead of his work obsession, what he believes to be most important than anything else (McMillan). Having to continue putting up with Phil’s behavior, Helen is left with no choice but to give up trying to fix the problem of keeping everyone united together when the real problem is Phil and his lack of presence and his role as the father. Emotional damage is not just in family members but in coworkers as well. Coworkers have to deal with the complaints and demands from workaholics (Machlowitz 52). In addition, they are given all the blame and criticism, especially if tasks are not done perfectly (Machlowitz 54). Some workaholics tend to do more than what is expected of them, making everyone else’s hard work seem very little as if they have not done enough (Shimazu). Recognized as aggressive individuals, workaholics put a great amount of pressure and verbal harassment on coworkers (Machlowitz 44). Because of this negative abuse, coworkers may feel easily annoyed or put down too much, which can affect their work performance (Shimazu 156). According to Marilyn Machlowitz, there are actually four types of work addicts (32). Knowing for a fact that there is more than one type is unusual for one may assume all workaholics are the same based on the one activity they have in common: work obsession. However, this assumption is not true. The four types of work addicts are the dedicated workaholic, the integrated workaholic, the diffuse workaholic, and the intense workaholic (33). Phil is a dedicated workaholic because this type of workaholic has no outside activities or hobbies (33). If anything, their relationship with their job serves as the only activity they will ever have because it is their only prime focus. Consider the line of the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, â€Å"I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!† (Killinger 132). Every second is precious because time is a major necessity that cannot afford to go to waste (Machlowitz 31). Impatience is presented but a strong dedication is shown as well. Workaholism works the same way. Like the white rabbit, Phil shows a strong commitment to work and to act on it fully. Studies have shown how badly workaholics put themselves in with themselves and their lives. Studies also show the negative health effects on workaholics more than non-workaholics such as sleeping problems, depression, and dissatisfaction with the balance between work and life, and constant worry over lack of quality time with family and friends (Keown). For example, 56% admit being unable to make time for leisure and making plans to change all that (Keown). Another example declared that one-third prefers to be more isolated (Keown). These studies show how much of a huge impact work has on their identity (Keown). Although they accept the consequences they must bear and the sacrifices they must cope with, workaholism does not eliminate the outcome of having poor detrimental health. Everyone has their own excuses, reasons, and values to workaholism. Their compulsive attitude and behavior gives the impression that nothing gets in the way of work, the â€Å"only† priority in life. However, workaholism puts one’s health, whether mental or physical, at high risk. Emotional and physical harm is targeted not just towards the workaholic but towards his or her family members and coworkers too. The Company Man depicts Phil’s workaholism displaying a serious effect on his wife and children. His work obsession also illustrates the loss of his social life with his family and his coworkers.