How hard do you work?

Like, what do your daily work hours add up to?

And those weekends? Spent at the office, or with your family and friends?

Well, if you work at a Silicon Valley-wannabe startup, chances are you spend all your time in the office, work, work, working on someone else’s dream.

There’s nothing wrong with that – we can’t all be pioneers – but you need to remember you have a life, too.

On Monday, Blake Robbins, an associate at the venture capital firm Ludlow, gave voice to such sentiment, sending out a series of tweets challenging the concept of the workaholic culture:

No, burning out is not cool. It’s harmful to your body, mind and soul.

Soon, others began to weigh in on Robbins’ thoughts, some agreeing, some clearly outraged at the mere suggestion.

If you, like us, have no idea what “workaholism” refers to, Mashable breaks down just what :

The workaholism at the center of this debate demands that you take an endless string of sacrifices in stride — as if a full-tilt obsession with work, to the exclusion of all else, is the only path to success. It ignores the reality that a person can be passionate, persistent, and hard-working and also find fulfillment in other aspects of life. Indeed, that satisfaction probably enhances their vision in ways that are difficult to quantify.

The overbearing philosophy of workaholism, which is rooted in macho stereotypes about what hard work should look like, also conveniently leaves out some difficult facts.

First, that model of work in corporate America was pioneered by white men whose wives, often with aid from domestic workers, took care of running a household. Without such an arrangement, it would be literally impossible to work long hours or around the clock and have any caregiving responsibilities. And yet we continue to pretend that a “strong” work ethic requires nothing but your own iron will.

Second, workaholism is costly, even if you think the brute force of racking up hours in the office or on the road will inevitably yield innovation and success. What often happens instead is burnout, which can become an expensive problem for a company. A culture that promotes relentless work also sidelines a lot of talented women. They may feel that in order to be competitive with their male peers they must leave their kids in daycare for nine hours so that a nanny or grandparent (if they even have that support) can put them to bed, and decide that worshipping at the altar of workaholism isn’t for them.

This old-fashioned approach to productivity and creativity perpetuates a macho vision of what the most valuable efforts should look like: gruelling, never-ending, and capable of destroying your competition.

Just sounds exhausting, and makes sense why some Millennials have been turned off the thought of starting a family.

To ease the workload, it’s important, as Robbins tweeted, to understand the goals you are working towards – from both the employee and employers side.

Shortening work days isn’t a bad idea, either.

Take it from us – work is a sideline, live the holiday.

[source:mashable]