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If you ask me to describe my average day the words work and meeting will be dropped at least once. Why? Because I like to stay busy. I like to work, but I’m not obsessed with working. I’ve been called a workaholic since I was in high school and that was long before I got my first job because I had ideas, and I loved making them into a reality. If I had stopped the first time somebody had said I was turning into a workaholic, I have no idea what kind of person I would be today. For everyone out there that calls someone who enjoys their work a workaholic, listen up. You are about to be educated.
If you type “workaholic definition” into Google, it’ll spit out the following definition, “a person who compulsively works hard and long hours”, and most people will add that a workaholic is incapable of not working. A hard worker is someone who puts all their effort into their work and is more focused than the stereotypical obsessed work addict. A hard worker cares about their work, and that shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing. It seems that too often that extremes are expected of behaviors. If you work a lot you’re a workaholic, but if you don’t come across as obsessive than you’re just lazy.
The lack of recognition between a hard worker and a workaholic is one of the reasons I love the #girlboss trend, because suddenly it was great to be seen working a lot. People would see me working and the word workaholic would be replaced with the phrase a hardcore girl boss, and while it wasn’t fixing the problem, it certainly didn’t make people feel bad. People began to see that hard workers had more to life than just their job or whatever passion they have. Goals were acknowledged and recognized as a driving force. The idea of a hard worker replaced the initial thought “they’re a workaholic”.
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Do I think we’re moving in the right direction? Yes. Will there be setback? Also yes. But I think having a positive connotation to be a focused hard worker no matter what the focus is important. Terms like girl boss are empowering and inspire girls to try their hardest. If every girl I knew that was called a workaholic or bossy was called a girl boss instead, I can only imagine the world we’d be living in.