Overcoming Overwork
The work never ends and you are already enough
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” — Rumi
During my senior year of college (2023, to date myself), I distinctly remember one professor predicting that within decades leisure time would be abundant, income would be basic and universal, and energy would be cheap and widely accessible. A bold but justifiable prediction following OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT. Interestingly, these predictions have only accelerated. In a 2025 interview, AI expert Dr. Roman Yampolskiy predicted that 99% of work will be replaced by AI and humanoid robots in the next five years. He also predicted that humans would have 60 to 80 hours freed up per week, thanks to not having to work.
But just because work can be automated by agents and robots doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone will work less. Actually, the contrary may be true.
Annual working hours per worker have decreased dramatically over the past 150 years, yet the prevalence of “overworking,” an occupational condition characterized by working excessively, often at the expense of the worker's physical and mental health, may be on the rise. A 2021 ILO review found that “from 2000 to 2016, the numbers of deaths by heart disease from working long hours increased by 42%, and those from stroke by 1%.” This group of “overworkers” represented about 10% of the global employed population as of 2021.
New technology may present the opportunity to work less, but history tells us this opportunity is more elusive than imminent. It’s likely that many people will work more, not less, whether or not tasks are automated, leisure is abundant, or energy is widely accessible. But why is this?
Why we overwork
As someone who, by the official definition, tends to overwork, I can offer a theory for why this is the case. The thing about a theory is that it isn’t a rule or a law. You may not overwork, and to that I say keep reading because you probably care about someone who does. Additionally, the theory I present might not be why you overwork, and to that I say keep reading because there’s only one way to find out.
I believe people overwork for two reasons:
The “too muchness” of modern work
The “not enoughness” of modern identities
The too muchness of modern work
“Productivity is a trap. Becoming more efficient just makes you more rushed, and trying to clear the decks simply makes them fill up again faster. Nobody in the history of humanity has ever achieved ‘work-life balance,’ whatever that might be” — Oliver Burkeman
Modern work is fundamentally different from the work of previous generations. A farmer could see the end of a harvested field. A factory worker could hear the whistle signaling the end of a shift. Modern knowledge workers enjoy no such luxury.
Our tasks are indefinitely expansive, our communication channels are boundaryless, and our technologies are infinitely generative. There is always another email to send, another document to update, another article to read, another opportunity to pursue.
The result is that work no longer has a natural stopping point. No matter how much gets done today, there will always be more tomorrow.
But infinite work opportunities alone cannot explain overwork. Most people are exposed to the same overflowing inboxes and endless obligations. Only some become consumed by them.
The not enoughness of modern identities
“I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.” — Anne Lamott
A recent paper published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes suggests that excessive workers often organize their identities around being "doers." The researchers found that “doing” frequently serves as a defense against deeper feelings of not being enough.
For some, work provides a source of worth. Achievement offers proof that they are valuable and productive. Not working creates guilt because it feels like evidence that they are falling short. One participant described feeling guilty whenever they weren’t working, as though their worth was tied to their output.
For others, work creates a sense of safety. Constant activity, preparation, and achievement provide protection from uncertainty and vulnerability. Doing becomes a way to stay in control. Another participant described excessive achievement as a way to escape an unstable environment and create security for themselves.
Still for others, work provides a source of recognition. Accomplishment offers validation, approval, and belonging, but only temporarily. The next achievement quickly replaces the last. One participant described chasing recognition despite knowing it never produced lasting satisfaction.
Overworking can be a learned behavior to cope with a deep-seated insecurity that you may not be enough. If you just work a little bit more, then maybe you can feel worthy, safe, and recognized. Sound familiar?
The work never ends and you are already enough
When you die, you’ll keep getting emails. Someone might even reach out and ask for the latest status update, not knowing they are being indefinitely “ghosted” without the decency of an out-of-office auto response.
As morbid as that may sound, it is equally liberating. As Oliver Burkeman points out in his many writings on the futility of modern productivity hacks, we’ll never get on top of our ever-expanding to-do lists. It is an impossible task. If the task were improbable, we strivers could, dare I say, overwork to make it happen. But this one is impossible. The work will never end.
Yet coming to terms with this fact is still not enough to make you feel, well, enough.
Work can provide a tremendous source of purpose, and fully committing to One Big Thing is a commendable, if not necessary, part of living a good life. This is a lesson that many overworkers take to heart early in their careers. I know because I’m experiencing it firsthand. And what many people find is that work provides a productive feedback mechanism for filling psychological gaps of self-worth, security, and admiration of others. The problem is that work can never be enough.
I often ruthlessly scan the internet for studies, Stoic philosophy, or even scripture to find evidence for all the claims I’m making, but this one can stand alone.
You are enough.
Whether you work 80 hours a week, 20 hours a week, or not at all. You are enough. Whether you measure your life by what you create, who you care about, or which cause you fight for, you are enough.
We should work hard, not because we’ll finally get on top of our to-do lists and not because we have something to prove, but because we care. And that’s what we’ll turn to next.
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Caring
Image credit: ChatGPT