National Workaholics Day in the United States Date in the current year: July 5, 2024

The term “workaholic” refers to a person who works compulsively and is unable to limit the amount of time they spend working even when it is detrimental to their health or relationships. Being a workaholic is not a medical condition per se, but a lot of workaholics suffer from high levels of stress, anxiety, and sleeping problems.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “workaholic” was first used in the Toronto Star in 1947. A portmanteau of the words “work” and “alcoholic”, it was a pun alluding to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Some people take pride in calling themselves workaholics because in their eyes the term describes one’s devotion to their career, which is a positive thing for them. However, the word is typically used with a negative connotation to describe a person whose inability to stop working so much and so hard results in them neglecting their health and social relations.

Why do people become workaholics? Researchers have figured out several reasons such as low self-esteem that results in a desperate need to prove oneself, anxiety, intimacy problems that a workaholic tries to avoid by focusing on their job, and certain personality traits such as perfectionism and neuroticism.

Interestingly, most workaholics are less effective than their co-workers even though they work more. The thing is, the amount of time spent on completing a work task isn’t always a sign of one’s efficiency. In addition, workaholics have trouble delegating tasks to their coworkers and working as part of a team in general, as well as have impaired cognitive function due to sleep deprivation.

So, National Workaholics Day wasn’t created to celebrate workaholics; it was created to remind people of the dangers of being one. It is unclear who created National Workaholics Day, but the purpose of the holiday is clear as day. It is meant to remind people about the importance of healthy work-life balance and encourage them to take care of their mental health because workaholism can be a sign or cause of a mental disorder such as some forms of psychological stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and impulse control disorder.

National Workaholics Day is the perfect occasion to take a break from work and reassess your work-life balance. It is celebrated right after Independence Day, so you can extend your Fourth of July weekend and use the time off not just to relax, but also to improve your emotional well-being and make a resolution to take better care of yourself from now on and make sure that your work doesn’t take over your life.

It may be a good idea to also take a break from social media for a day or two, but not before posting about #NationalWorkaholicsDay to raise awareness of the observance and encourage others to stop working so much and just relax.