POINTS Of VIEW

A space to share your feedback. Over to you.

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Fri 20 Dec 2013, 4:47 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 8:26 PM

Balance it out

I am not an expert or authority on the field but from whatever I’ve seen in my 20 years of career life, I believe there are a few common traits that are rather common among workaholics (Addicted to work, Dec 13). This is not a proven list, merely a personal observation:

A very strong and constant desire/ drive to be at the top.
A feeling of insecurity (hence, working extra is a way to make oneself feel more in control.)
A desire to be recognised among peers and higher up.
A sense that subordinates are not efficient and hence their work needs to be micro-managed.
Lastly, a desire to exceed clients’ expectations and develop a sense of reliability among them, which may lead to better word of mouth advertisement.
Most workaholics get caught in a vicious cycle: if I do extra, I will get more — and this leads to the desire to do more to get more… It may be for money, power, growth etc but then it becomes a mindset and eventually a habit.

As I said, I am no expert, but I believe that it is a personal choice if one wants to overwork to achieve more. Being a workaholic does not guarantee that one will reach the top. What it does guarantee is an impact on body, heart and mind in the long run. So, make a choice: follow what makes you happy and live a happy, healthy life!

Congratulations, Abhijit Baruah, on your winning entry! We will be in touch with you shortly.

Slow down
Addicted to work (Dec 13) gave an apt message that being overworked and overstressed is anything but healthy. Striking a balance between work and other priorities is absolutely essential.

We live in a culture that is always on the go. To prove our mettle and surge ahead in the fiercely competitive world, all of us are plugged in to the Internet and spend most of 
our waking hours at the workplace. Working like machines with erratic schedules, excessive reliance on fast food and drastic cutbacks on sleep can have a detrimental impact on health. Weight gain, high blood pressure, back pain, diabetes, stress and anxiety have made their grand foray into our lives as a result.

Multi-tasking is the need of the hour. But we should be aware that there is a fine line between being busy and being over-worked, and avoid falling into the trap of thinking that more is better.

Jayashree Kulkarni, Abu Dhabi

Money can buy smiles
What a fantastic piece by Tabitha Lasley on money and happiness (Cash Conversion, Dec 13). When I read the first few lines, I thought I was reading wrong. Was the magazine actually suggesting we must focus on materialism to gain happiness? It was only on reading the five suggestions that I realised what it meant.

I couldn’t agree more, especially with the last two points: investing in others and investing in experiences. There is something about investing in people. My parents used to be part of this scheme that allowed them to sponsor the education of an underprivileged child in India. Every now and then, they’d get a report on her progress as well as a letter or photo from her, thanking them. I never saw this ‘half-sister’ of mine and we lost contact after she finished school, but I like to imagine that she is working somewhere successfully today, thanks to the generosity of people she’d never even met. Truly said: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Vaishalli Shah, Abu Dhabi

Carpe diem
Indrajit Hazra’s piece Every Picture Tells a Story (Dec 6) awakened me to the fact that a bunch of old photographs can bring along many beautiful memories.

The writer considers looking at 
old pictures a ‘dangerous activity’. I believe this is probably because we sometimes wish that we could rew-ind time and live those beautiful moments all over again. It’s sad when the people who gave us the best memories become a memory themselves. Sometimes, we never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory. Then we often wish we could reach out to that moment and grab it!

If you have a chance to seize a moment that you feel in your heart will make a memory, why not seize it? Always remember: the next time may never be the same.

Ashok Kumar, by email


More news from