MTV just aired a half-hour documentary called “Beyoncé: Year of 4″ showing the the shooting of her video for the song “Run The World (Girls)” which is on the 29-year-old’s recently released fourth album, 4. In the documentary which features a tireless Beyoncé running from the dance studio to photoshoots to meetings with executives and everything in between, she said “”I am a workaholic and I don’t believe in no. I don’t believe in I need to sleep. If I’m not sleeping nobody’s sleeping. I’m one human being. It’s a lot. If I want to be a businesswoman, I’m a businesswoman. Independence is not easy.”
And Beyoncé doesn’t mess around. She had brought in the best choreographers in the business to try to recreate a dance she had seen from native dancers in Mozambique but no one could quite do it at a level Beyoncé would be pleased with but the artist doesn’t take second best for an answer. She flew the dancers into L.A.. The best part was when these bewildered men asked what her name was (oh what it must be like to be in a world where you don’t know who Beyoncé is).
“My focus is not bigger; it’s quality, and I want to make sure it’s something I’m proud of years from now,” she says in the video. “It’s very difficult managing myself. Every night when I go to sleep, I ask hundreds of questions. I’m making mistakes, and I’m learning from them. I’ve never been afraid to fall — and I say all these things, but now I’m being tested.
Not that I condone not sleeping but has Beyoncé been able to deliver such stunning products because of her work ethic? I mean Beyoncé is not just producing catchy songs but her lyrics send a message and she figures out how to express her words through choreography, that may require going to the ends of the earth to find, but that soon the whole country will try to emulate. I mean the fact that we all try to do that little Single Ladies dance everytime we hear the first few measures of that song is culturally significant. And there is no doubt that this album will be just as big. As of Sunday, 4 sold 89,211 copies in its first week to become Beyoncé ’s second solo number one.
I guess as someone who has been called a workaholic (though I definitely do sleep so I am really probably just a hard worker who has some workaholic-like days) I don’t want to think that my attitude towards work is bad for my overall life health. Plus I would really like to have something in common with Beyoncé.
However, studies show and human observation show that being a workaholic is really not good for you in the long run. Your work performance may be good but your body is going to take a toll. I think Beyonce cannnot sleep for a year and just work because then she can actually take a year off and not do anything which she just did. Most of us, however, do not have schedules or financial situations that allow for that.
I think some people, me included, view being a workaholic as impressive or an easy way to say I work very hard but the fact that you are alienating yourself from colleagues and friends, not taking care of yourself to the point where you get sick and never letting yourself truly relax is not impressive. We are not going to run the world if we feel crappy, have no friends and can never put our feet up, girls.
Here are some warning signs that you are actually a workaholic and not just a hard worker:
- Workaholics are very controlling: They don’t want to be on a team. They want to do it themselves.
- A workaholic also has a troubled personal life: These people are not hanging out at bars every Friday with a huge group of friends.
- Workaholics are unhealthy: They often eat poorly, don’t exercise, and in short, they take poor care of their physical and emotional well being.
Though workaholics should probably see a therapist about why they are so consumed with the need to work all the time, here are a few quick tips.
- Make time to relax: Look for other benchmarks to measure your overall well-being such as personal relationships or trying a new hobby.
- Learn to delegate. Recognize that you cannot do it all alone and that you need support.
