It is no doubt that most of us have to work to put food on our plates. Commitment to work is primal as it helps you to deliver results. Even so, most of us will agree that overworking yourself could be tragic. Working too hard could be the beginning of a dangerous sequence in life that can lead to depression and stress.
We are talking about sleepless nights, endless deadlines, less fun outside of work and even less family time. While it may seem like the right thing to do to impress your boss or to grow your company, it is scientifically proven that overworking yourself leads to depression. Even worse, long working hours could have other severe health effects besides depression.
Why working Too Hard can be dangerous
One study conducted on people working for the government showed that those that worked over 11 hours every day had symptoms related to depression. This affected both their socioeconomic and lifestyle choices in the long run.
Often times, such people culminated in alcoholism and other activities to culminate their stress levels. The study also reflected that the same category of people was more susceptible to heart diseases and psychotic illnesses.
The limitations of the research are that it was conducted on middle-aged workers who worked for the government. If I am being honest, government jobs are not the most demanding. As such, one can imagine the level of damage people in the private sector working in the same conditions may face.
Maybe younger freshmen from campus would show some resilience to the harsh environment but focusing on the longtime effects, overworking yourself would have a huge impact on your health as well as your social life.
Expert advice
One study author named Marianna Virtanen said that: “It is true that depression is more common in middle age, and it might also be possible that in order to have any effect on health, quite a long period of exposure to long hours is needed.”
She also advised that people “make a distinction between work and leisure; don’t skip your holidays; take care of your health and well-being, especially sleep and exercise.”
When you think of it this way, it becomes pretty easy to see why working too hard can cause some problems. The more time you spend in the office or wherever you work, the more likely you are to be isolated from other people that you love.
Logically speaking, anyone working an excess of 11 hours every day is probably on a bad diet because they do not have enough time to prepare a nice meal. Even worse, they cannot afford work out time to exercise. In the long run, all the efforts that the individual was putting in work end up as hospital bills.
Take a rest and exercise regularly
Getting regular exercise is absolutely crucial for our well-being, so that’s a pretty big deal. In fact, some studies have found that introducing exercise can help to reduce depression.
Exercises release endorphins in the body, but the importance of that can’t be overlooked. Natural feel-good chemicals make people feel good, and the better and we feel the more likely we are to be productive and focused and got more stuff done that also makes us feel good.
On the other hand, if an individual is getting time to prepare a healthy meal and to exercise, they are probably lacking enough sleep. In essence, a work-life balance is hard to strike when one is working too hard.
Unfortunately, failing out on the essentials of work-life balance could result in a health and social crisis. Skipping out on sleep immediately raises the levels of cortisone in the body, which increases the level of stress in the body from all angles.
Work Smart not Hard
Working smart is the opposite of working too hard. If working too hard is starting to get you down it might be time to start working smarter. Working smart entails dealing with a job, ones it arises instead of wasting time on jargon.
This way, one is able to deal with one task at a time and take breaks. Eventually, a day becomes productive and the stress levels minimal. If you have stuff to do that only takes a couple hours to complete, don’t space it out over days and make it feel like you have endless things to do.
Working smart helps you to complete one thing and then move onto the next in an orderly fashion. Keep in mind that resting is not something that happens if you happen to have the time or after you reach a certain amount of success.
The essence of work is to make you feel accomplished. If it’s making you feel stressed, it is time to start working smart. Remember that this is your life here, right now, and if you’re not feeling good you are breaking yourself.
