Manage Your Time, These are 5 Bad Effects of Working Overtime

At work, not a few people choose to work overtime as a solution to complete their work. In addition, demands from the boss to complete the piled-up work are also a reason for someone to work overtime. Do you do it often? If it's once or twice over time, it's probably not a big deal. But if you work overtime too often, even making it a routine will be dangerous for your health, you know!

Randy Simon, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist based in Montclair and Summit, New Jersey, says that working somewhere 40 to 50 hours per week is more than enough for most people.

Well, working overtime will indeed give you additional income, but you must know the reasons why working overtime is dangerous for your health. Here is an explanation.

1. Increases stress and depression

Working excessively or working overtime tends to make a person prone to stress and even depression.

HuffPost launched in a recent study found that workers who work at least 11 hours a day have a higher risk of depression than people who work the standard 7-8 hours a day. The findings also join several other findings linked to spending long hours at work with serious health problems.

So, enjoy the holidays to rest or do a hobby that you enjoy. You need to break from your daily work to avoid stress or depression that comes from physical and mental exhaustion.

2. Vision becomes blurry

For those of you who often work in front of gadgets or monitor screens such as laptops and computers, you certainly tend to experience this, right? Working in front of the monitor screen without pause can indeed make your vision blurry.

According to Web MD, the eye reacts to images that are constantly moving and changing. This shifts focus and then sends rapidly varying images to the brain. This job requires a lot of effort from the eye muscles. Besides that, the eyes also blink less often when using computers and similar devices. Therefore your eyes become dry and make your vision blurry.

3. Increases the risk of heart attack and stroke

Not only does it cause blurry eyes, but the danger of working overtime can also increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, you know! Of course, this is a serious health problem that you need to avoid.

A study published in The Lancet states that employees who work long hours have a higher risk of stroke than those who work standard hours. The researchers also speculated that working 61 to 70 hours a week led to a 42 per cent increased risk of coronary artery disease. Moreover, if you extend overtime to 71 to 80 hours, the risk increases by 63 per cent, reports the Firstpost page.

4. Lack of sleep causes fatigue during the day

When you decide to work late into the night, you will certainly lack sleep and end up feeling very tired and sleepy during the day. It may sound trivial, but behind it, health problems are lurking.

Randy Simon, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist based in Montclair and Summit, New Jersey, says that staying awake longer will cause you to sleep less and feel tired during the day. According to Healthline, if you spend all day working for long periods, you will find it very difficult to calm your mind before going to bed.

This all results in decreased productivity while increasing the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

5. Trigger neck and back pain 

It is certainly not far from what is called neck and back pain for workers who often work overtime. This is caused by working in a sitting or standing condition for long periods, causing your muscles to stiffen.

Reported by Healthline in a study in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine found that the more hours a person works, the greater their risk of experiencing back pain.

Randy Simon, PhD, said that women tend to experience pain in the neck, while for men, the pain occurs in the lower back. That's one sign of stress that causes muscle tension.

Well, those were some of the dangers that could lurk in your health if you ignore rest time. There's nothing wrong with exchanging your time for extra income. But don't sacrifice your health by constantly taking overtime work until late at night. Appreciate the rest time then you will be more enthusiastic and be productive at work the next day.