How Long Work Hours Affect Your Brain

The forty-hour workweek: you either love it or you hate it. And if you hate it, you’re not alone. If you work forty hours a week, you probably don’t have to contend with much outside of the occasional company-mandated overtime. But as of the time of writing, the forty-hour workweek is the standard time for many jobs everywhere. But what’s not standard is how some companies expect their employees to go beyond the call of duty. Whether it be overtime or even shifts that go up from 9 to 10 hours a day, the longer you work, the more you may find yourself being annoyed with your job. That is unless you have a really fun job.

It’s common knowledge that people with jobs, specifically those that run for 8-plus hours, don’t have too much time on their hands. A good portion of their day is spent at work, doing what their work requires. A large majority of our adult lives are dedicated to our jobs, both physically and mentally. And this kind of role can take its toll on a person mentally speaking, even during a forty-hour workweek. But the situation becomes a lot more dire when a person’s work is extended beyond the call of duty and they are forced to endure activities that demand their attention for long hours.

For this article, we’ll be looking at the health ramifications of working long hours. What can we as employees do to alleviate the burden on our shoulders? And finally, why companies should take care of their employees’ mental well-being on the job even if said job requires long hours.

It’s Called “Work Ethic.”

The International Labor Organization set standardized working hours to 8 hours per day. Since then, times have been decreasing in certain parts of the world to better accommodate people. However, the rate at which we overwork has steadily been increasing.

Overtime is the key culprit when it comes to working long hours. Overtime, for those not in the know, is what happens when a company or employee takes on optional working hours that go beyond their usual working time. Overtime can creep into both one’s break and their time to clock out of the job. Overtime isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it can be something used to finish work that normally would take longer than usual. However, over time it manifests in different ways in different parts of the world.

Just look at Japan, a country usually seen in a positive light, whose light shines on the foundation of a society forced to work beyond the amount of time they can feasibly bear. The situation is so serious that they even have a name for this type of work ethic; it’s called Karoshi.

Karoshi is so rooted in Japanese work culture that it’s seen as something normal. Keep in mind that some office workers in Japan end up working over 100 hours of overtime per month. This work ethic has alienated many a Japanese salaryman from their life outside of work, leading to unpleasant circumstances that we will look into as we touch upon the ramifications.

Of course, Japan isn’t the only place with strict forms of overtime. Some industries take on overtime as a means to meet deadlines easily. Take, for example, the video game industry, a place where labor laws might as well not exist. In this industry, a phrase has been made to describe the harsh working conditions of meeting deadlines, called “crunch.”

When a game developer crunches, they may as well kiss their personal lives goodbye and say hello to life at the office until their high-profile release has been completed. Crunch for most developers is an extension of the 40-hour workweek by 20 hours at the minimum. And all for what? A slightly better review on a game and the same paycheck they always get?

If anything, it doesn’t need to be elaborated further as to why overtime work is awful. But the ramifications on one’s health are massive, and that’s what we will be looking into next.

The Long Nightmare

So, why are long working hours bad for us? Well, the idea is simple. If your body doesn’t get enough rest, it can not recuperate. Your body needs to take a specific amount of energy to function and stay active. However, that energy can not travel efficiently if your body isn’t getting the right breaks that it deserves.

Think of it this way. If you eat some food and you don’t let it digest, then all of the energy you gain from the food goes directly to keeping you active. But if you take a break, and allow your body to rest, the food can digest and allocate nutrients to let your body grow. The energy isn’t wasted. We take breaks and rest to relieve our bodies of tension before going back to the tense activity.

This philosophy applies both to your muscles and your brain. Your brain may not be a muscle, but it gets routine exercise simply from keeping you conscious. Whilst working, it’s given an extra amount of stress as it needs to not only do the former but also help you make decisions. If your job is relatively hectic, you may notice yourself getting mentally taxed through headaches and fatigue. Your brain needs as much rest as the rest of your body, no pun intended.

The real kicker, though, is the fact that the story doesn’t just end with fatigue and a headache. Just like an ogre, mental complications that arise from overtime have layers, and these layers go deep, but don’t worry, we’ll cut back on a few to get the point across.

Alongside the fatigue of working long hours, the mental exhaustion actively impacts one’s ability to work. As your mental faculties take on more stress, your cognitive ability to function starts to worsen. In the short term, your ability to work will degrade over time. You find it difficult to stay focused, and the fatigue will only grow, as it takes a heavier toll not just on your mind but on your entire body as well.

In the long term, and this applies doubly so if you are middle-aged, the cognitive impairment and future mental ailments such as dementia. Of course, this all is dependent on several factors such as age, gender, and overall health. Therefore, it varies from person to person. But mental health doesn’t just stop at cognition.

Let’s take a few steps back and look at Japan again for a second. Working overtime has led to a lot of workers being forced into a sense of self-imposed isolation, as stated earlier. Being isolated for long periods is in itself detrimental to one’s health. In the case of Japan, though, this can be linked to higher instances of suicide, and for those uninitiated, Japan has one of the highest rates of suicide on Earth.

I don’t think it needs to be elaborated further as to why working for long hours of the day is a bad thing. So let’s move on to ways that circumstances can be improved.

How Can I, as an Employee, Combat Long Work Hours?

As an employee, taking care of your mental health and working at the same time may seem next to impossible. But there are simple little cheats to get through the day easily. First and foremost, try your best to look after yourself. Yes, your job is your livelihood; that much is true. But without your life, your livelihood is meaningless. So it’s important to routinely take breaks whenever possible to keep yourself topped off. Also, try to consume healthy snacks throughout the day so you have some energy going into your body as you work.

Next up, try to not just bring change into your life but others as well. Promoting a friendly and inclusive workplace only helps those around you more alongside yourself. It’s a good way to rid yourself of your isolation and a great way to form relationships with co-workers. With that being said, use those opportunities to advocate for change. Overtime and crunch aren’t something only one person faces. It’s an issue that is shouldered by everyone working in an office or even industry. Only when people advocate for change will they be able to achieve better circumstances. And only then will their employees put their legs forward and assist. Speaking of, however.

How Can You, As an Employer, Combat Long Work Hours?

Employers only need to do one neat trick to help their employees. And that’s to mandate restrictions on overtime. Overtime is a cultural thing at its core, and the only way for culture to change in society is for the powerful to do something about it. Employers hold that power, and they have good reason to make the change too. If the issues of long hours and hence worker exploitation persist, they only have to lose as entire workforces will be dissolved and become inefficient due to the hours they have to work.

Other things to keep track of include the promotion of mental health awareness at work. Making sure that employees are being looked after and getting deserved breaks during work hours. Also, employers should accommodate employees that do have to work long hours if the situation necessitates it.

A New Day

So in summation, long hours can be very bad for you. But if the right practices are performed and people are moderate in terms of their experience, long work hours may lose the bad rep they have at the moment. So long as they continue to persist, however, without change, then entire industries may collapse sooner rather than later.

For more similar blogs, visit EvolveDash today!

FAQs

I work long hours at work but get frequent breaks, so do I have anything to worry about?

No, you don’t. That’s because those breaks are the times your body can relax. So long as you’re taking advantage of them properly, you’ll be perfectly fine.

Life circumstances don’t allow me to leave work on occasion, so I’m stuck here for longer. What do I do?

The best thing to do in a situation like this is to communicate with your boss or manager. If they are understanding, they will give you the necessary leeway to clock out of work on time.

As an employer how do I promote mental health awareness at my company

You make sure to perform company meetings, conduct surveys amongst your employees, and do routine check-ups to make sure that they are still fine.

My company has a project due soon. Should I ask my employees to crunch for the chance of better pay?

No. Even if it’s for better pay, your employee’s health comes first. Try your best to extend the deadline so that they are able to finish the task in a timely manner.