Overwork is nothing to 'stress brag' about. So why do we do it?

We need to make our workplaces embody the values we care about.

- Faye Ng Yu Ci

I was having dinner with classmates from my junior college days. We huddled around a small table at the back of a dim-lit Korean restaurant, our rounded metal chopsticks clasping the sweet potato noodles of japchae.

One works as an investment analyst in a boutique firm, one is a newly minted lawyer, and one is a self-made entrepreneur running multiple side hustles.

It was late in the evening, and it had been three months of wrangling schedules and last-minute reshuffling to plan this meet-up. The conversation revolved around what we've been up to in our careers.

"I've been OT-ing the entire week," the financier exhaled as he set down his chopsticks. "We're trying to close a deal and there're just so many reports to read."

"I'm drowning in paperwork," the lawyer sneezed. "I go into the office both days on the weekends."

"I work 80- to 100-hour work weeks," the entrepreneur chimed in.

Our lives have morphed to centre on our professions. Yet, I sense a semi-warped veneer of pride to our claims of how hard and how much we work. It's as if staying back late in the office is something to congratulate ourselves on, to wear as a heroic badge of honour.

THE 'STRESS BRAGGING' TREND Cue, the phenomenon of "stress bragging." A Straits Times article in November highlighted how this is becoming more prevalent in the workplace, with negative consequences on workplace culture and interpersonal relationships.

We compare how early we get into the office and how late we leave. We flaunt how hard we worked on a project to clinch that "elusive deal" and how little sleep we've had. We bemoan missed dinners with our families and loved ones, the gym memberships and Gardens by the Bay annual passes we subscribe to but never used.