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By Sara Jameson
It is easy to become a workaholic when working in IT today. Job cuts, performance reviews, longer hours, more responsibilities all can force us to lose sight of the big picture in life. Do not let your job define who you are and what you do.
This should be a wake-up call for the overly ambitious workaholics out there. Is your work worth your life? Does work equal your identity? Of course not. The phrase "work-life balance" implies that work and life are separate things.
Workplace suicides are at their highest level ever, according to the U.S. Department of Labor-up 28 percent in 2008 from 2007 and continuing to trend higher in 2010 and 2011. There were 251 suicides in 2008; in 2007 there were 196. Most of the suicides were men (94 percent), and workers aged 45 - 54 represented the largest percentage (36 percent) of employee suicides.
Employees in management positions were the largest group of suicides, at 14 percent: 34 managers committed suicide last year.
This isn't too surprising, since managers have the most responsibility and are on the hook when performance is down. Moreover, those who occupy the higher rungs of the corporate ladder tend to place greater significance on their jobs vis-à-vis their self worth. Their careers and success define who they are and what their status is.
There's an e-card from the site someecards.com that I think brilliantly puts work stress in perspective: "When work feels overwhelming, remember that you're going to die." Work is always going to become horribly stressful, but the stress is temporary. There are solutions. Finding those solutions is a skill that will not only get you through a particular problem at work but will ultimately also prime you for success in the long run-everyone wants a problem-solver on his team.
Cross-posted from myITview.com
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