quality lifestyle

Its a sentence spoken very often in AA meetings or rehab centers. If too much attention is not paid to the most imminent side-effects of ‘get rich or die trying’ attitude, we will end up hearing this very sentence in most rehab centers.

So is work an addiction that is affecting most of the people of our generation adversely or is it something that has become an inseparable part of our daily lives that most of us find comfort in? For starters most people will not agree that it is an addiction. It is an addiction that is appreciated in most circles. People who just cannot forgo their work for anything are considered hardworking and dedicated by most organisations. I for one was a workaholic a few years ago. Being a woman I was often looked upon as being irresponsible for paying more attention to my work. I used to end up working 13 to 14 hours a day…rest assured my personal life did take a backseat.

Each one of us has our own reasons for paying more attention to work. But the primary reason is definitely money and of course growth (professional or internal). Where a woman is not appreciated for being a workaholic, a man is praised for working hard so that he can provide for a better lifestyle. Man or a woman, workaholism may get you all the laurels and recognition in your workplace and improve your social standing amongst relatives, but may not necessarily better your relationship with your partner or your children.

Staying away from home for long periods of time for work or just meeting the family for dinner during weekends may not augur well for most relationships. One of the partners in a relationship, mostly the woman, needs to take a backseat to ensure things run smoothly on the home front and kids are not neglected at least till the time they are more independent.

The fact is that in the recent times, I have seen men and women alike, make work their life. They find it hard to spend Sundays at home and are either constantly on their laptops or other gadgets that keep them connected to their workplace and colleagues. I remember my husband telling me about one of the biggest industrialists in India, who used to have meeting with his business heads starting 6:30 in the morning and his day used to end everyday at 11 or 12 in the night.

With people becoming more materialistic and money minded, our lives have become very mechanical. Even homemakers are sticklers for a routine way of doing things. I have seen women who just don’t give up cooking and cleaning to spend more quality time with their spouses.

When I was on assignment in the UK for 6 months, my husband and I definitely missed each others company. Though it did give us some space for a while but it definitely was a strain on our relationship. In the UK I did notice a huge difference in their work culture in comparison to ours in India. They have a 9 to 5 kind of working style. Most people like heading home or to a pub to socialise with friends and family. Family has still not lost its importance there, and how good a worker you are is definitely not measured on the number of hours one spends at work (remember that they are paid for overtime unlike here in India). There is a sense of security amongst people with regards to their growth and most people live their lives enjoying what they have rather than running after things in life. Most people I met there did not even have life insurance (which is something all of us invest in).

Most couples in cities are realising the importance of family and are making sure they spend quality time with them (minus the blackberrys and the laptops). People in organisations are also acknowledging that working more than 8 hours a day and not taking offs/holidays and breaks is in fact hampering the productivity of their workforce. At least it prevents people from feeling burnt out and helps them give their best in those 8 hours of work. Even better it ensures that they have a better work-life balance and their ‘happiness quotient’ is better.