YOUR WORK IS KILLING YOU, SLOWLY BUT SURELY

You are going to work to get the things in life you need. You will put everything into your career, business, job or profession, everything else be dammed, and when you have nothing left you will just curl up and pack it in.

If this is your mindset, which it well could be, this article is not for you. If you intend to have other levels of quality to your life in your existence, and perhaps retire still being capable of existing with the least levels of pain, able to actively and mentally enjoy your life then read on.

As you commit most of your waking hours to work, it must be clear that what you do throughout those hours will absolutely define your physical and mental well-being. How you feel, think, sit, stand, life, worry, eat, drink, walk, lean, hold your head, each action will decide how you live, if you live, what breaks down, and what wears down.
You are not invincible, you are not made of steel, for the most part you are liquid held together with fragile hard and soft elastic materials with nerves running everywhere. Work and the money it provides is supremely important but not of primary or absolute importance. It is careless to make work any sort of reason not to responsibly manage your wellness. I will just lay out the facts and you can decide for yourself.

HEALTH AND WORKPLACE FACTS

• Heart attacks most commonly occur on Mondays between 4 and 10 am. Thanks to the combination of work stress adrenalin releasing anticipation, and early morning blood platelet thickening.
• Sleep problems, including insomnia, had been tied to workaholic patterns as well as night shift jobs. This is a vicious cycle as several studies have found that sleep problems are a predictor of workplace burnout.
• Poor nutrition has been observed among people who get their food at work or on the way from work, according to a 2014 British study.
• Weight gain at work was observed with 41% of participants in a study involving more than 3,000 workers.
• Co-Workers eating habits often influence unhealthy dietary habits. By extension office parties and business functions have been also been attached to nearly one in five individuals weight gain.
• The lack of sunlight with office jobs, is connected to increased obesity, exposure to sun helps to enhance the effect of our circadian rhythm, balancing energy levels and expenditure.
• Eating at your desk while working, will result in distracted eating, this will result in a perpetual feeling of hunger, most likely satisfied when you get home in the evenings.
• Hours spent sitting, this is the most obviously physically devastating factor. Non-ergonomic positions will result in damaged hips, spinal column misalignment, and increased pounds. Hours of sitting and repetitive work contributes to arthritis, bursitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and some cancers. Here alone you will find many of the reasons for the crippling aches and pains, from your neck, to your arm, back, waist, hip, knees and even feet.
• Stress, the killer, the workplace’s supreme future snatcher. Un-managed, un-regulated, un-tempered, stress, protected foolishly by people who preach of their inability to manage their diet and the failure to find time for even 8 minutes of exercise, because of how busy and tired they are due to their work, their job, their business their career, their occupation. Stress alone had been linked to weight gain, depression, anxiety, anger, irritability, sleep deprivation, exhaustion and strained relationships.

There are many more facets to true maturity than work, it’s time to take care of what is your first and foremost, and will be your last true asset, your life, your wellness.

Your work is not sacrosanct, it is a means to an end, and left unmanaged it may well prove to be your end. If you do and have no intention of sacrificing your wellness for your income stream, there are options opened to you. In my next article I will cover several of these options, as with everything worth doing, it will take some effort, but be intelligent about it, and take responsibility for your health and future.