研究報告:工作狂不一定是壞事

Can't step away from the BlackBerry? Leaving a work voicemail at 10 p.m.? You might be a workaholic. No surprises there.

與黑莓手機寸步不離？在晚上10點鐘給別人留工作語音短信？那你可能就是個工作狂人，這也沒有什麼好大驚小怪的。

But new research suggests that may not be a bad thing.

但是新的研究認爲身爲工作狂人不一定就是件壞事。

A paper out of the Rouen Business School in France says workaholism defined by work involvement, feelings of being compelled to work and work enjoyment can actually be constructive.

Associated Press你陷入過工作狂的狀態嗎？你爲工作感到興奮嗎？法國魯昂商學院（Rouen Business School）的一份研究報告說，工作狂──其界定因素包括對工作的投入程度、被強迫工作的感覺以及工作所帶來的快感──實際上是積極的。

As long as the compulsion to work is self-driven, it can lead to personal feelings of accomplishment (I finished that project! I solved that accounting problem!) and benefit the organization (That project is finished ahead of schedule! Our clients think we're great!) according to Yehuda Baruch, the management professor behind the study.

參與這項研究的管理學教授耶胡迪•巴魯（Yehuda Baruch）認爲，只要工作的慾望是自發產生的，它就可以引發出個人的成就感（我完成了那個項目！我解決了那個財務問題！），也能讓公司受益（那個項目比預定的時間提前完成了！我們的客戶覺得我們很棒！）。

To be sure, many view workaholism as a destructive addiction that requires treatment, just like alcoholism and drug addiction, as the workaholic strays from the work-life balance equation accepted by most of society.

無可否認，許多人把工作狂看成一種有害的癮，需要加以治療，就像是酒癮和毒癮一樣，因爲工作狂偏離了社會上大多數人所接受的工作與生活的平衡方程。

But many workaholics still feel balance in their lives, they just have a different work-to-'life' ratio than most.

但是許多工作狂人在生活中還是感到了平衡，只不過他們的工作和生活的比率與多數人不同。

In some ways, workaholism is like chocoholism, Baruch explains: Eating some chocolate on a regular basis can have health benefits and provides energy and satisfaction. Same with work for a workaholic they are energized by their work and feel good when succeeding at a task. Unless a chocoholic or workaholic is damaging their physical or mental health, Baruch says they should just be left to eat or work in peace.

在某些方面，工作狂和巧克力狂一樣。巴魯解釋說：經常吃點巧克力對健康有益，可以提供能量和滿足感。工作對工作狂人也是一樣，工作給了他們活力，成功地完成一個任務讓他們感覺良好。除非巧克力狂或工作狂損壞了他們的身體和精神健康，否則就應該讓他們自在地吃或工作。

However, workaholism is often confused with being over-worked. It's not just about the hours worked, says Baruch. The need for overtime pay, or a cruel boss, might force you to log long days. ('Horrible Bosses,' anyone?) And if you express too much enthusiasm about your work, a boss could take advantage of your willingness to work and ultimately make you feel over-worked. That's when stress a positive motivator turns into distress, he says.

不過，工作狂常常會與工作過度相混淆。巴魯說，這不僅僅是工作時數的問題。你需要加班費，或者你有個冷酷的老闆（《惡老闆》(Horrible Bosses)，有人看過這部電影嗎？），這些都強迫你必須加班。如果你對工作表現得太過熱情，你的老闆可能會因爲你工作自覺而佔你的便宜，最終讓你覺得工作過度。這時候，壓力──一個積極的促進因素──就會轉變爲痛苦。

Readers: Where do you fall on a workaholism scale? Do you get a thrill out of work? Do you think that's healthy?

讀者們，你什麼時候陷入過工作狂的狀態？你爲工作感到興奮嗎？你認爲那樣健康嗎？