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Workaholics:

"In my case, my boss was telling me I had to get my work hours down to 40 a week, and I couldn't do it," said Sam, a former senior project engineer in California's Silicon Valley.

"I was sneaking into work at 5 a.m. on a Sunday so I could get work done and be out of the place before anyone else showed up," he said. "I didn't want people to see how much time I was putting in."

Sick. Sick sick sick.

"Now I'm more willing to try to do a mediocre job and keep my own mental health and sanity than to do the perfect job on everything I attempt," he said.

Three cheers for mediocrity!

My personal policy: Work at about 70% of your maximum capacity. That gives you some breathing room when a real emergency comes up, while simultaneously avoiding overload.

This policy also helps prevent killing sprees, which might have a dampening effect on one's career.