Plodder vs Hardworker: Contrast
Probably, everyone has heard about plodders – people who are so obsessed with their role routine that they can’t relax for a second. They operate for 12 hours (or more!) per day, constantly check the mail and answer phone calls, and bring their activity home. And, although slogger approach is considered an addiction, looks like this addiction is approved countrywide. Unlike the other addicts, extruders are often seen as diligence personalities and even have a good reputation at the office.
However, although hard, productive activity and plodderism look very much alike, they are totally different by nature. Jullien Gordon states that the main difference is about how the person feels on the inside. 'A hard employee operates in an effective way and feels inspired, while a plodder funcitons hard in ineffective ways and feels burnt out and unhappy', he says.
It’s crucially important to test yourself and find out whether you are a productive employer or a slogger. Not only intense labor ruins your wellbeing, your relationships with friends and family in the long run, but also it reflects negatively on the company’s success. Toilers find it too hard to switch off and try some other activity except for their profession. As a result, they don’t rest enough and often suffer from physical or mental wellbeing issues.
Here are few more hints to differentiate normal productivity from intense labor:
- Plodders put labor above all
A wholesome focus on your responsibilities and desire to excel at what you do are valued high by management. However, there are various cases when a hard employee can’t show up at the office. When family matters, wellness issues or other circumstances need the attention, a good employee distracts from activity and focus on other areas of his life. The problem with sloggers is that they can’t act like this – they’ll head to the office even when they’re sick and will ignore important family events to focus on labor, even when it’s not that necessary. - Toilers can’t distract from duties
Livecareer.com states that hard employees ‘play just as hard as they operate’. An extruder switches off his phone to spend quality moments with family and friends or have a good sleep. On the contrary, plodders seem to be physically attached to everything related to their occupation – they often operate at home, constantly check the inbox and feel daunted when they’re forced to spend a day or two away from their laptop. By the way, due to this reason toilers barely ever go on vacations as they feel miserable when deprived of role-related attributes. - Plodders don’t know where to stop
High-performing specialists are always focused at reaching certain results. As soon as the positive result is achieved, they stop operating at this task/project etc. and switch to any other activity. However, things don’t funciton this way with sloggers. When the task is completed, they’ll keep reviewing, improving, and maximizing things as they don’t know when it’s enough. As a toiler has little idea of what he wants to achieve, he’ll keep acting like a perfectionist until late evening. Maybe, that’s because they haven’t found their real calling yet? - Extruders can’t prioritize
Although the operation addicts spend much more hours at the office than the plodders individuals do, they are often less effective. Why? Just like a slogger can’t maintain his activity-life balance, he struggles to strategize his business interval and prioritize the tasks. Moreover, BusinessInsider highlights that ‘high performers do business, while plodders’ goal is to be busy’. As a result, while other employees complete most important tasks first and don’t allow the external distractions to consume their span, a toiler gets easily distracted. They react to emails, last-minute meetings and other office distractions and are less focused on getting results. Thus, their employer doesn’t get much result from their spending days and nights at the office. - Extruders are less productive and lack balance in life
Plodders often have a turbulent, active life outside of the office. As usual, they maintain strong social ties with friends and family, have a plenty of hobbies and interests and like to travel. Meanwhile, the sloggers spend a great deal of their hours operating, which doesn’t make their lifestyle balanced and wholesome. Plodders often suffer from mental and physical wellbeing issues, which, in its turn, make them less efficient employees in the long run. The progressive employers are aware of consequences of workaholism and would rather hire a socially active person who lives balanced life and has interests outside the office.
Do you have signs of labor addiction? Here are the 5 tips to beat workaholism
Plodders are usually putting in extra hours without occupation satisfaction. Here’s how to change the situation and enjoy your duties again:
Understand the real reason why you operate hard
As a rule, high performers with duty addiction have the underlying reason why they spend days and nights in the office. The real reasons are anxiety, low self-esteem, a desire for approval or an attempt to hide from family problems. Until you realize the reason why you’re addicted to duty, you won’t cope with this addiction and will keep business long hours.
Set the boundaries between duty and time off
Plodders barely have leisure as such people think about work every minute. So, you need to schedule time off work when you turn off the phone, don’t check emails and don’t read contracts. You can be passionate about hard activity in the office, but once you’re out, physically distract yourself from work.
You might feel lost and bored at first, but soon you’ll get used to a new schedule, find new things you like and start to enjoy vacation.
Focus on your personal life
It’s common for a workaholic to have poor family life or personal lives. Working harder for a company won’t replace your family and friends. It’s high time that you changed the situation. Instead of scheduling more hours at work and getting stressed, plan interesting activities with your loved ones for the week end.
Spend more time with people, talk about your problems, and over time, you’ll get less addicted to work.
Take care of your health and well-being
Quite often, workaholics suffer from physical conditions or some other addiction. That’s why it’s important to take care of your physical health. Limit alcoholic drinks, cigarettes and coffee. Exercise every day (even if it’s 15 minutes), spend more time out and drink plenty of water. Focus on health will bring you more awareness and energy to beat stress and depression.
Use your vacation days
Why not take a pause and take some time off away from the team of employees and the need to accomplish a new goal at work? A good vacation can make a difference in your physical and mental health and give you an improved sense of well-being.
And if after a vacation you decide to look for a new job, you needn’t get stressed about this either. Our expert writer can prepare a professional CV for you at quite a low cost.
Do you think you might be a plodder?
If you’ve checked the above clues and discovered a few signs of workaholism, it’s time to overlook your unhealthy addiction to work. Give yourself short breaks even during the busiest days. Don’t bring your duties home – most of the task can wait for tomorrow. And, if you funciton so hard because you feel that your contribution isn’t valued by management and coworkers, maybe, it’s time to update your CV and seek for other career opportunities?
Our bio professionals will gladly assist with any type of profile, from a student’s to a CEO’s. A new portfolio will effectively highlight your achievements and help you find your dream job faster.
Have you ever felt addicted to your duties? How did you manage it?
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Author: Editorial Team at ResumePerk.com
Reviewed by: Certified Career Expert
Last updated: December 2025
