More than half the average person’s waking life is either spent working, sitting in front of an electronic screen or commuting to and from work. Extended time periods spent sitting and being sedentary is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, cancer and death.
Sitting Duck
A study which included more than 200,000 participants aged 45 and above, found that those who sat for 11 or more hours in a day were 40% more likely to die in the next three years—from any cause—compared to those who sat for less than 4 hours a day.
Tip: Check out the web for ergonomic workstations and stand up desks which can help reduce sitting time. Follow the 20-20-20 rule by looking away from your computer screen every 20 minutes at a spot 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
Psychological aspects of work and its effects
The experience of work itself— how work time is structured, and the social and psychological aspects of working conditions—affect both physical and mental health. Night shifts, holding two or more jobs and long work hours can be physically damaging by causing fatigue and disturbances in circadian rhythms. Working more than 40 hours per week has been linked to inferior overall health, increased injury and illnesses, with especially pronounced effects coinciding with work shifts lasting longer than 8 hours.
It has also been increasingly recognized that stressors at the workplace can be an influential factor to a range of illnesses like hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, amongst others. Work-related stress could also manifest as heart disease, back pain, headaches or gastrointestinal disturbances; as well as psychological effects such as anxiety and depression, loss of concentration and poor decision making.
Data from different countries around the world indicate that mental health problems are a cause of a number of people dropping out of work. In the Netherlands, around 58% of the work-related disabilities are related to mental health. In the UK, it is estimated that around 30–40% of the sickness absence is attributable to some form of mental illness. In a survey last year, Indian employers ranked stress as the no.1 lifestyle risk factor.
All work and no play
If you are addicted to checking your emails on your phone late nights, weekends and on vacations, you might be a workaholic — and your health may be suffering because of it. Recent research has found a strong link between “workaholism” and reduced physical and mental well-being.
A Kansas University study found that well-being is generally not a priority for workaholics. Workaholics — defined by those working more than 50 hours per week — were more likely to have reduced physical well-being.
It’s a known fact that overworking has an adverse effect on one’s health and happiness. Workaholism has been associated with poor sleep quality, weight gain, high blood pressure, depression and anxiety, not to mention unhappy marriages and higher divorce rates. And with technology making it simpler to work from anywhere, at anytime, it’s easier than ever to become a workaholic in the first place. In India, more than 70% employees confessed to facing more stress related illness since the economic slowdown. In the US, 6 in 10 employees work through their vacations.
Work-life balance and recommendations
Taking time off to rest and recharging can have a positive effect on not just your well-being, but also on your productivity. Even a short nap can boost cognitive functioning, improve creative thinking, learning and memory. Use of conventional full-time hours without overtime as a framework can help in deciding on working hours as well as flexible part-time arrangements. Regularly discussing and re-evaluating working hours can be beneficial as well. Inspiring a spirit of taking regular physical activity at work, and looking for infrastructure and opportunities that can incorporate physical activity and healthy eating into work lives can bring about holistic change.
References:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2917933/
NEF Well-being at work report
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/http://www.towerswatson.com/en-IN/Press/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-12-19/news/
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