Your Job May Be Killing You!

Alan May 8, 2013 · 9 min read

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Is Your Job Killing You?

“From increased risks of heart disease to longer life spans, the numerous drawbacks or benefits to your health that come with working have been revealed by various studies from around the globe”.

Here are just eight ways that your job can affect your health and may be quietly killing you in the process:

1. Early Retirement sounds great: having no boss, the freedom to do what you want, travel, relax, etc., but does retirement hurt your health and life expectancy? That’s a very good question, and the answer depends (I think) on just what you mean by retirement.

A study at Shell Oil company looked into that very question and found that those who retired at age 55 had almost twice the risk of death compared to people who retired at age 60.

Here are the outcomes of that study:

The study examined the survival of 839 employees who retired at 55 and 1929 employees who retired at 60 and compared them to 900 employees who retired at 65. Women made up only 11% of the study population.
The link between early retirement and early death was greater for men. In fact, men who retired at 55 had an 80% greater increase in risk than did women who retired at 55.
People who retired at 60 were no different than people who retired at age 65, in terms of overall risk of death.
It could be that people who retire at 55 have poor health (and therefore chose early retirement).
People who retired at age 60 had the same physical and mental health function as people similar to them who were still working. In fact, the retirees’ mental health improved somewhat after retiring. So according to this study, retiring at age 60 is either not harmful or may even be good for you.

A similar study carried out by Austrian researchers revealed that men who retire early have an increased risk of dying before age 67. So if you were considering early retirement, you may want to think again.

2. Staying In A Job You Hate.

Plodding along in a job that you hate can damage a lot more than your mental health.

Research published in the Human Relations journal found that employees who remained with companies purely out of either a sense of obligation or a perceived lack of alternative career opportunities were more likely to experience physical health problems, such as exhaustion, stress and burnout, than were those who actually enjoyed their work.

Without the enthusiasm for the job, or emotional bond with the work then all you have left is a sense of obligation without any real heartfelt commitment, your employment becomes emotionally draining and long term the effects could be silently killing you without you even noticing.

3. Working overtime

Some people get excited about working overtime, because all they think about is the additional money. Let’s face it, we can all use some extra cash, but at what price?

While occasional overtime can be a blessing because it provides an opportunity to earn some unexpected cash, but in the long run it could be killing you. Over extending yourself for prolonged periods can lead to some major disadvantages.

Too much overtime can take a toll on both your health and your quality of life. Excessive Overtime can;

Cause stress on your relationships-In addition to losing time with family and friends, you may be more irritable toward them when you do have time off.
Ultimately leave you burned out where you feel completely exhausted and overwhelmed.
Lead to Budget Dependency – Increased money often leads to increased spending and you begin to rely on the additional money. Avoid counting on income from overtime to pay day-to-day expenses. The overtime could be pulled at any time and often without warning.
Reduced Quality of Life – While making more money may benefit your family financially, your family is likely to suffer in other ways. If they can see that the extra work is killing you perhaps you need to pull back a little for your sake as well as theirs.
Increased Risk of Workplace Injuries – people who regularly work overtime have a 61 percent greater chance of injury on the job. The more hours worked, the greater the individual risk is.

A European study found that working overtime can be bad for an employee’s heart. Those who worked at least 10 hours a day had a 60 percent higher risk of heart-related problems, such as death due to heart disease or a nonfatal heart attack, than those who didn’t work overtime.

Additional adverse health effects associated with long work hours include ulcers, depression, stomach problems and breast cancer. Bottom line, is overtime may help you out financially but is it really worth it if it’s killing you?

4. Commuting

If you were asked the following question;

“Do you believe that commuting to and from your job on a daily basis could be killing you?”

How would you answer?

BMC Public Health journal recently published an article in which, researchers from Sweden performed a cross-sectional study through surveys of approximately 21,000 individuals aged 18-65 who work over 30 hours per week.

In the survey, participants were asked about how they commuted to work, how long their commute takes and how they personally rate their overall health, taking into consideration factors such as stress, sleep, mental health and the number of sick days taken from work.

The surveys revealed that commuting by car, bus or train in comparison to walking or cycling, was associated with poorer overall health. Erik Hansson, lead author of the study stated that,

“Generally car and public transport users suffered more everyday stress, poorer sleep quality, exhaustion and, on a seven point scale, felt that they struggled with their health compared to the active commuters. The negative health of public transport users increased with journey time. However, the car drivers who commuted 30 – 60 minutes experienced worse health than those whose journey lasted more than one hour.”

Further study is required to more accurately determine the correlation between time spent commuting, method of transport and the impact on the commuters overall health. The popular hypothesis is that longer commutes by way of public buses and trains are less stressful than shorter drives in a private vehicle.

If any of you have ever been caught in traffic on a busy city motorway you’ll know there is a lot of truth in that statement. I personally used to hate travelling to and from my office, back in the day, when I was part of the rat race. Just to get me to the office for a 7.30am meeting I would have to leave home at around 6.00am. That was to cover a distance that outside peak traffic hours would take around 15 minutes. Glad I don’t do that anymore!!

5. Long-term unemployment

Having a job is good for a person’s emotional well-being, whilst not having a job can lead to feelings of worthlessness and depression which left unaddressed could ultimately contribute toward killing you.

Research presented during a congressional briefing on the psychological benefits of employment and the impact of joblessness revealed long-term unemployment can trigger mental health issues such as such as depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, low subjective well-being and poor self-esteem. In extreme cases long term unemployment has even been indicated as the cause of some suicide cases.

6. The Afternoon Nap

A study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine found that half-hour siestas boost heart health and help prevent deadly cardiovascular disease.

According to the research, a 64 percent lower risk of death from heart disease can be achieved, mainly by simply by getting a little daily shuteye, no matter the number of naps or their duration.

The authors suggest that naps could boost heart health via stress reduction.

Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy all had one thing in common. They each enjoyed taking daily mid-afternoon naps. Naps are an economical and fun way to boost mental and physical health and have been linked with clarity, increased performance, memory, mood and even heart health. Many companies are now sanctioning office nap times to increase productivity and morale.

According to Sara Mednick, PhD, sleep medicine researcher and author of Take a nap! Change Your Life, a nap will also:

– Reverse aging
– Strengthen the sex drive
– Accelerate the ability to perform motor tasks
– Enhance how the body utilizes carbs
– Minimize stress hormones
– Alleviate migraines
– Reduce brain chatter before nighttime sleep

7. Friends At Work

While it has been generally established that people with active social lives live longer, that also applies to employees in the workplace. According to research published in the Health Psychology journal, employees who believe they have the personal support of their peers at work are more likely to live a longer life.

Researchers followed the health records of adults who worked an average of 8.8 hours a day through a two-decade period. Those who reported having low social support at work were more than two times more likely to die sometime within those 20 years.

During the course of the study, 53 participants died; most of them had negligible social connections with their colleagues.

8. Sucking up to the boss

A study published in the Journal of Management Studies suggests that politically savvy professionals who use kissing up to an employer as a way to enhance their standing in the office may avoid the psychological stress felt by those who aren’t as shrewd about their workplace behavior.”

Sucking up to the boss might even be good for your health and well-being because it can actually dull the impact of work related psychological distress. Researchers say that being a valuable team player can do more than just help you move up the career ladder, it can also lower tensions, remove depression in the workplace and alleviate emotional exhaustion.

Work a ‘Killing You’ Job or Suck Up To The Boss?

Pretty simple choice but then ‘sucking up’ to the boss is not for everyone and it does require a certain level of skill to pull it off without alienating everyone else on your team.

Sucking up to the boss is an art form and for those who are not workplace savvy, or simply refuse to play the whole “suck up game”, then attempting to ingratiate themselves with the boss could actually make things worse and increase the negative impact on their health through additional work related stress.

So it would appear that the secret to having a successful career while maintaining your health and well-being is to be predictable, do whatever you can to minimize your bosses’ workload, and suck up to them.

Ok? So your Job is Killing You – What Can You Do About It?

Change is the answer, if you identify with any of the reasons or conditions above then maybe it’s time to re-evaluate what you want out of line and start looking to satisfy your needs and desires. It might just be time to get a little selfish.

Not all jobs will kill you. And there is one job out there that is fun, easy to do, pays great money and will maintain your health. Curious? Want to know more about it? Just and I’ll send you a free video that will explain how you can have everything you want in a job without the risks of it killing you in the process.

Work should always be both fun and rewarding so imagine if you could work along these lines;

Work no more than a few hours a day.
Break your work into time slots of 1 to 1.5 hours max
Take regular breaks to reinvigorate your mind and body
Spend more time with friends and family
Repeat these steps daily

Yes there is work like that out there and you can take advantage of it. All you have to do is decide to make the switch. Click the button below and don’t waste your life away on a Job that is killing you.