In these days of recession, are we becoming a nation of workaholics? asks Anna Carey

'I can't remember the last time I had a weekend off," says Cathy Hegarty. Hegarty works from home as a writer for industry magazines and websites, and until recently always had what she considers a healthy attitude to work.

She tried to avoid answering work-related emails in the evening, and she always relaxed on Saturdays and Sundays. But these days she spends more time on her laptop than with her husband Joe -- and free time is a thing of the past.

"Before the recession really kicked in, I always made sure that I took breaks and didn't get too overwhelmed. I made sure I had plenty of time for Joe. But now everything's so unreliable, I'm scared to turn down any work at all. So I take on too much and then I end up working non-stop."

Cathy is not alone. After years in which everyone was trying to achieve the perfect work-life balance, the recession has seen the return of the die-hard workaholic. As more people are made redundant, those who are still employed feel that they have to work harder than ever to avoid being next on the chopping block.

Meanwhile, the self-employed can find themselves taking on too much work in case they never get another contract. And the pressure keeps growing.

Stephen O'Hara works for a telecommunications company that has been forced to let go of many employees over the last year, leaving remaining employees overworked and underpaid. Financial pressure -- his wife was made redundant six months ago, and is now at home looking after their baby daughter -- has led to Stephen taking on extra work in the evening.

"I would love to go home and think 'that was hard, but now I can relax'," he says. "But that's not the case. This year alone I've had two extra jobs -- they were both contract work and now that they're finished I have to find another one. They average 15 to 18 hours a week, which is a good chunk of time. I try to do that work at night so I have the weekends free to spend with my family, but hour-wise I'm basically working a seven-day week."

Stephen's not alone in his overwork. And these long hours can have serious consequences. "I'm seeing a lot of burnout," says psychologist Allison Keating, who has carried out intensive studies of the effects of emotional stress on workers.

"It's really nasty -- if you're working longer hours for less money, you feel more negative in your mind and your immune system drops, so you're more likely to pick up colds and bugs, which can lead to you being out more and being less productive.

"If your boss is putting pressure on you and you can't express yourself honestly, if you're putting in extra hours and the quality of your life is dis-improving, this can lead to exhaustion and then to burnout.

"When you feel that the power is out of your hands, it has a direct impact on physical as well as mental health."

Work-related burnout can lead directly to heart and immune system problems. Feeling powerless is increasingly common in times of recession.

"There's been a dramatic shift from an employee's market to an employer's market," says Keating. "In the past, people could demand higher wages and more time off. Now I think people are working harder and they mightn't ask for all their holiday time."

But suffering in silence can lead to more problems.

"If you're not communicating well with your employer, frustrations start," says Keating.

Both self-employed and employed workers feel the pressure to overwork.

'If you're working for someone else, you feel that if you don't do what's asked of you, you could lose your job," says Keating.

"They say that people who work for themselves do work longer hours -- but they feel better in general because they're in control," says Keating.

And of course, the job itself makes a huge difference. Louisa Cameron works seven days a week at her bookshop Raven Books in Blackrock, Co Dublin, and has taken only two days off since the shop opened in June 2008.

She admits that it's hard to stop thinking about work even after the shop has closed its doors for the evening. But she doesn't mind.

"It makes an incalculable difference that I'm passionate about what I do," she says. "If I was doing work I hated, I would be so resentful of spending any time at all on it -- life is short! I'd much prefer to spend 10 hours a day doing something I enjoy for relatively little financial reward, rather than eight hours doing something that I'm not engaged with simply because of the pay."

The recession has added to pressure, of course. "Once banks stopped handing out loans, destroying a psychological safety net, I certainly felt an increased anxiety that I was in this on my own and that there was no financial back-up if I couldn't make rent," says Cameron. "However, I don't know that it pushed me to work harder because, with or without a recession, I wanted the business to succeed."

But even those who enjoy their work need to take time off. "Too much adrenalin is bad," says Allison Keating. "You become a stress bunny. If you thrive on that, fine, but you still need to burn off all the cortisol with exercise and fun."

So if you are working too hard, what can you do about it? Well, making yourself take some time out is crucial. And that might mean avoiding work emails and phone calls outside of fixed work hours.

"It's good to set boundaries," says Keating. "The access to information and emails means that work is always coming into our lives. Home is meant to be a restful haven and a place for down-time, but if you're constantly invaded by calls and emails it means you're constantly thinking about work. It's good to turn the computer and the BlackBerry off."

And it can also be good to question why you're working so hard. "If you're working all week and weekend, you have to ask if this is worth it," says Keating. "People can get caught up in consumerism and it might help if you change your lifestyle. If you have to work that amount of hours to survive, there might be something wrong with the picture. Making a budget is a good start."

Creating a work structure is crucial. "We all check emails in the evening," says Keating. "But you have to say 'this weekend I'm doing nothing.'"

So step away from the laptop. Switch off the BlackBerry. As Keating says, "You need to take time off -- you'll be more productive. It's all down to attitude."

Irish Independent