Hard work isn’t always the noble badge we imagine; it can mask deeper issues like poor boundaries, ego, avoidance, or misplaced priorities, turning effort into a self-inflicted cycle of stress and inefficiency. Working hard work too much (working a lot, not doing exhausting work) can cause a list of problems:

  • Canceled vacations.
  • Constant late nights of work.
  • Details falling through the cracks.
  • Heath problems.
  • Personality changes.
  • Unengaged after-work dinners.

These issues and more are not always avoidable. Life is hard, and work is hard sometimes. But hard work doesn’t always fall into the “life is hard” category. Sometimes:

  • Hard work is seasonal and/or essential.
  • Sometimes, it is unethically imposed.
  • And, sometimes, it is a signal to check yourself.

However, “hard work” can often be a confluence of other upstream issues that make you think you are a hard worker, but the hard work is a self-inflicted wound. Issues like:

  • Lazyness: Waiting until your deadline is tight and requires a week(s) of late nights.
  • Distraction: Working on too many side projects instead of focusing on what matters most.
  • Ego: You think you can handle the situation but lack the humility to judge the time required to complete the work.
  • External Problems: Planning for perfect weather and an unexpected storm hits.
  • Timidity: Avoiding hard conversations with those who require time you don’t have.

The wounds these issues cause make you ineffective and damage others around you. The poison is that you “work hard” and think of yourself as the victim of its pressure. In your mind, you can become the victim of those who require your work. But in reality, you did it to yourself, and others are often affected, too.

Further, your weariness from hard work can make you defensive—you are working very hard, after all. But your weariness keeps you from learning the lesson, and your hard work problem becomes cyclical.

Yes, sometimes hard work is just hard work, and it is not sustainable in the long term. For that, you need boundaries. Maybe it is time to find new, respectable work.

But if you keep hitting the same wall, check your compass.

  • Do you lack discipline?
  • Are you avoiding stress and inadvertently building up stress-interest?
  • Do you need to learn a new skill to meet the demands?

I’ve also found that hard work is sometimes a personal problem, not for lack of discipline or integrity but also from:

  • Not being able to let work wait for you.
  • Having a personality that can not handle leaving things undone.
  • A strong desire for more. More than you can handle.
  • As said before, not being able to set or maintain boundaries.
  • An inability to prioritize.

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