A study looking at 13 years' worth of data showed that workers who do overtime frequently were 61 percent more likely to become hurt or ill. Working more than 12 hours a day raised this risk by more than a third.
The risk is not necessarily directly related to the hazards of the job. More likely, long hours induce fatigue or stress in affected workers.
Researchers looked at over 5,000 work-related injuries and illnesses. They found that more than half of them occurred in jobs with extended working hours. After studying the data, they concluded that there was a greater risk of injury as the work hours increased.
This is a great study that helps emphasize the importance of a prinicple I frequently have to violate. It is not healthy to sleep less than six hours a night, and there are many nights that I go below that, but this is a great reminder that I need to be more vigilant in this area.
One of the keys that I do abide, though, is getting to bed well before midnight. It is rare where I am still awake at after 10 p.m. This is a major area that many people fail to appreciate the importance of. They fail to understand that regularly going to sleep after midnight is a sure-fire prescription for devastating your adrenals.
Studies like this one are great examples why the work-life balance movement is growing steadily in this country. If all of your time is spent working, moving and getting things done, you won"t have any time left to actually enjoy life, or care for your body. It"s wise to seek a balance.
If you spend all your time working, you"ll wreck your health. Take the time to care for yourself, and your life will be better for it.