Working overtime can eventually become a habit and sometimes become a necessity for some people. Overtime can be due to orders from superiors, or our own choice to complete work outside working hours.
Unfortunately, many do not know that the habit of working overtime does not only harm productivity but also long-term health. Overtime and excessive work can be a cause of stress, burnout, health issues, and depression. Here are the ultimate bad effects of often working overtime that you need to know!
1. Overwhelmed
The first bad effect of overtime and overwork is being overwhelmed. Anyone who is deprived of sleep and has to do normal activities the next day is sure to feel extra tired. If it is done continuously for the long term, this feeling of fatigue can last all day and eventually interfere with work.
2. Personal life becoming a mess
When you spend the majority of your time working, your personal life can be affected as a result. Your after-office hours that supposedly can be done to socialize, meet friends, or just relax and spend with loved ones has to be replaced with work. If done continuously, you can feel like you have no life and it will affect your relationship with the people closest to you.
3. Reduced productivity
When the body is tired and the mind cannot focus, your productivity will also decrease. Stress and fatigue resulting from overtime work can make you tend to make mistakes. Not only that, but you can also experience burnout which results in a lot of delayed work, so you have to work overtime again to finish everything. This can be a continuous nightmare loop!
Thus why, when you often work overtime and have a lack of sleep, it’s not only your health that is affected. Your work performance can also be questioned.
4. Get into bad habits
When working overtime, some people usually try various things to stay awake. Starting from drinking excessive coffee, smoking, eating, or even forcing oneself to not to sleep at all. This bad habit can cause other detrimental things to the body, such as the consumption of liquor to relieve stress, caffeine dependence, and many more.
5. Increases the risk of heart attack
According to University College London, working overtime beyond standard hours (7-8 hours) can increase a person’s risk of having a heart attack by up to 67%. Although other factors and habits such as high blood pressure, smoking habits, and others have an effect, working overtime also has a role in increasing this health risk.
6. Brain damage
Research also shows that working overtime in the long term can cause brain damage and also increase the risk of developing dementia. People who work hours exceeding the standard are also shown to have weaker memories and also experience more difficulty in remembering words.
7. Depression
Overtime and excessive work can also affect your mental health, and increase the risk of depression. This is because working overtime will make you lacking in time to rest, relax, and also you can’t spend much time with loved ones. Some of these things can trigger depression to emerge. If you don’t have to, as much as possible you should refrain from staying up late and working overtime. Even if your boss asks you to work overtime, at least make sure that it doesn’t become a routine that can interfere with your health.
Over time working doesn’t always mean that you have to spend it at the office. The time where you spend working outside working hours, be it in the office or at the house will have a detrimental effect on your health.
To ensure your health can be kept in a good way, it is important to ensure that you have a good quality of rest. When you come home, prevent yourself from checking out your work at all. Be sure to keep time at home solely to rest or spend time with loved ones.
One of the ultimate ways to ensure you can have great rest at home is to ensure that your air conditioner is working perfectly fine. Thus, you won’t have to experience sleep disturbance due to hot weather. Make sure you do the regular maintenance of your room air conditioner and hire a professionally trained team. To check out the latest popular air conditioner maintenance for your aircon, visit https://www.luceaircon.sg/services/aircon-chemical-overhaul!
