Labor Intensive

Workaholics Take A Decidedly Labor-Intensive Approach To Life

(CBS)  CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports on the story of many Americans these days. Whether a CEO like Brett Yormark, who says he works between 17 and 18 hours a day, or a guy like Jim Garretson heading to his second job at the deli counter, long hours are a way of life.

"I don't get a lot of time with my wife," Garretson says.

Pankaj Shah, trying to get a new Internet company off the ground, can't imagine working only 40 hours a week. He says he sleeps with his Blackberry.

American workaholics have a variety of motivations. Their work habits reveal how hard work can make you rich and happy, or maybe not.

33-year-old Pankaj Shah was born in Connecticut and now lives in California's Silicon Valley, where he feels right at home in the fast-paced, high-tech culture.

"Everyone here works over 40," he says. "I do not know anyone who works 40 hours a week."

Right now he's working 'round the clock, trying to raise $2 million to start a new Internet company.

On this day, he's meeting a potential investor, venture capitalist Raj Altera, who wants to know that if Pankaj gets the money, he'll never rest.

"We expect entrepreneurs to be thinking about their business 24/7," Altera says. "Wake up in the morn, they are thinking about it. In the shower they are thinking about their business."

Pankaj fits that description. He really does sleep with his wife on one side of the bed and his Blackberry on the other.

"I like staying in touch," he says. "If someone is sending me e-mail at 3:30, they are working. I want to be responsible."

He has already gone through the grind of starting two successful high-tech companies. This is his third. A lot of people do one startup. But three?

"It's like telling rock star not to make another album, journalist not to do another story. This is what I do. I love it," he says. Wife Janet does the 24/7 work with their three kids. And how would she describe his attitude toward work?

"I would call it part of him," she says. "It is ingrained in him."

So ingrained, he even tried to schedule when Janet would go into labor so it wouldn't interfere with work.

"The earliest I remember him working hard is when first child was born because he said, 'You cannot have baby on X or Y day,'" Janet says.

In New Jersey, Brett Yormark is just getting going on another of his whirlwind work days.

"For me, there is no other way than work 150 percent every day," he says. "That is what is required to be successful."

He's president and CEO of the New Jersey Nets, a basketball team he's trying to turn into an entertainment powerhouse. "Performance is what it is all about," he says. "That is why I get up early, go to bed late, and that is why I do what I do."

He hustles more than most pro players, recruiting new advertisers. He has their names plastered everywhere. Recently he pitched some new promotional ideas to MarquisJet — a private jet service for real jetsetters.

After the meeting, Yormark races back to his office to prepare for his second target of the day — recruiting potential season ticket holders. The event is at his home, but it's all work.

All-star Vince Carter may be the team's star attraction, but tonight Brett Yormark, working the crowd, is the MVP.

"I tell my team all the time, we may not be the smartest, but we will outwork everyone," he says. "At the end of the day, whatever field you are in, hard work does pay off. To me it is the difference — the differential between being successful and not successful."

While it would be easy to call Brett Yormark and Pankaj Shah workaholics, they both work hard to put some balance in their lives, taking family vacations and time to enjoy the rewards of hard work.

Some people, real workaholics, can't do that. They are truly addicted to work.

[bob_bob2]

Working this long and hard actually hurts our society. Much like adding a working mother to the household, at first those who do it gain in wealth, eventually we all need to do it to just get by. You are raising the bar for your children, and lowering their quality of life.

If you can%u2019t afford where you live or how you live without working 60 hours a week. MOVE! Downsize, eat less, consume less do whatever it takes.

We only have a limited number of days, don%u2019t trade them away for scraps of paper.