The United States is a work-centered culture that was built on the American Dream. As Lawrence Samuel put it, “upward mobility has served as the heart and soul of the American Dream, the prospect of 'betterment' and to 'improve one's lot' for oneself and one's children much of what this country is all about." The American Dream has quickly turned into a country full of workaholics with the least vacation time in the world.

In America, we seem to have difficulty differentiating between being a hard worker and a workaholic. There is a very thin line between hard-working and workaholic characteristics, and it is a very dangerous one to cross. Being a workaholic leads to less job satisfaction and affects the well-being of the employee, their family, and their friends. Workaholics tend to use work as a coping mechanism for avoiding problems in their personal lives which end up leading to more stress.

Workaholics work all the time, whereas hard workers work overtime when it's needed.
Hard workers are the employees that are ready to step in on side jobs and come into work early when there is an extra job that needs to get done or a deadline to meet. Workaholics work long hours no matter what. They are the ones that work through vacation and don't take sick days because they believe they need to be at work all the time. Hard working employees know when they need to take a break. It is necessary to take vacation days and recognize when you need to take a day off in order to be the best they can be without losing interest. If you find yourself getting burned out, try to take a day off and refresh your mind. You will end up being a much better hard-worker than a workaholic.

Workaholics stay busy, whereas hard workers get the real job done.
Hard workers recognize where work needs to be done and they put energy into those projects. Workaholics are the employees that try to give 110% all of the time. As a hard working employee, you should be able to recognize when you need to give 110% to a project and put all your energy to it. Workaholics tend to try to put this energy into tedious tasks and end up getting burned out. Your boss is going to recognize your hard work more when you are putting hard energy into a valuable task rather than minimal everyday tedious ones.

Workaholics work for the evaluation, whereas hard workers take pride in their own work.
If you are working harder and harder until someone recognizes what you are doing, you might be a workaholic. Hard workers take pride in what they are doing because they recognize it is part of their character to work hard. Workaholics work hard for the evaluation, and so when they evaluation does not come often or quick enough it leads to burn out. You should work hard on what you do to because it is part of who you are. The evaluation will become a bonus and you won't end up so frustrated at the end of the day when you don't get a reward.

Workaholics get burned out, whereas hard workers are able to work until the job is done. Being a workaholic leads to burnout. When you are working long hours all day every day and seeing no results, you are going to end up frustrated and will take out that stress on your friends and family. Hard workers feel accomplished at the end of the day when they have performed well and look forward to doing the work again the next day. If you are feeling burned out at your job, reassess if you are putting in more energy then you need to and assess why you are putting in all that energy. Remember it is important to take days off for yourself and to spend with your family.

James Truslow Adams said that with the American Dream "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." We can only achieve this richer and fuller life by being hard workers, not by being workaholics.