Overworked and Proud of It: Workload as Status Symbol

by Matt McWilliams | Jun 3, 2013 | Personal Development

Is your workload a status symbol?

A recent Harvard Business Review article entitled, Why Men Work So Many Hours, had a passage that totally floored me:

How do the elite signal to each other how important they are? “I am slammed” is a socially acceptable way of saying “I am important.” Fifty years ago, Americans signaled class by displaying their leisure: think banker’s hours (9 to 3). Today, the elite — journalist Chrystia Freeland calls them “the working rich” — display their extreme schedules.

That’s right. Today’s elite are overworked (often by choice) and proud of it. They wear their 70+-hour weeks like a badge of honor. They tell their friends they can’t meet for coffee or tell their siblings they can’t make it for Thanksgiving. And they say it with pride.

They puff out their chest and declare to the world:

I am important. My employer/employees/team members need me. I have no time for little things or little people.

In short, they miss out on life. And for what?

NOTE: I should stop saying “they” and start saying “I.” Perhaps you should do the same. I hope not. However, if this post isn’t written for you, I hope you will share it with someone who needs it.

Why it happens

The truth is that this workload-as-status-symbol syndrome is usually not about working hard, chasing a dream, or being integral to an organization’s success.

We’re overworked because of:

an inability to delegate
fear of resting or missing out
trying to live up to some unwritten (or written) standard at your organization
trying to be like someone else
selfishness
__________ (fill in the blank)

All of the reasons can be summed up in one word:

Ego

Delegation. You don’t delegate well because you can always do it better. You don’t trust someone else with the level of perfection to which you hold yourself .
- TIP: Start delegating the non-crucial stuff immediately. Start with the stuff that is truly below your pay grade. If you’re making an average of $50/hour and you can pay someone $10/hour to do the same work, do it. Then work up from there. Google has approximately 8 bajillion articles on delegating, so I’ll spare you that lesson for now.
Fear of missing out. What do you fear missing out on? Who will it affect? If you miss it, what is the cost?
- TIP: Missing out is usually not as bad as you think.
Organizational standards. Some organizations have it in their culture or code that you are expected to work X number of hours. The culture dictates that you leave work in the dark in June, tie knot near your navel, bags under your eyes, with a zombie-like walk to the car. Everyone commiserates about how miserably overworked they are in a pathetic attempt to feel/sound/be important.
- TIP: If you get your work done in two or three hours less each day, no one will care except those who aren’t performing at your level. In fact, you might become an idol or sorts to the others.
Being someone else. Your father was overworked. Your best friend who lives in a nicer house and drives a fancier car is overworked. Perhaps even your mentor is.
- TIP: I realize this isn’t profound, but stop trying to be like someone else. Do your thing and do it well.
Selfishness. This is especially true for men. Given the choice between working for two more hours to earn a few extra bucks, pleasing the boss, or changing diapers, many men choose the former. I’ll ashamedly admit to this. I love my work. It’s often more fun than bathing a two-year old or feeding the dog. I am selfish with my time like that.
- TIP: I’ve never once left the office early or on time, gotten home and an hour later wish I had stayed at the office longer. It never happens like that. Whatever you are dreading about going home, it’s not a reality.