One of the most striking features of many modern workplaces is overworked employees. Plenty assume hustle culture is a typical part of employment and a key factor for success, leading others to believe achieving their goals requires trading their rest for long work hours. While it’s true for a few people, overworking can generally be debilitating. Learn the signs you’re overworking, its effects on your health and strategies to prevent it.
Symptoms of Overworking
Many people overwork for several reasons — and even find it normal until the physical symptoms manifest. If you work overtime frequently and are experiencing mental and physical effects like chest pain, sore muscles, and headaches, consider these your signs to stop. Here are specific indications you’re overextending yourself:
- Difficulty relaxing: The need to always be “on” or ready for emergencies makes it challenging for workers to enjoy their rest. Especially for those in higher positions, the executive team expects responsiveness and immediate availability to solve unexpected problems. The gnawing feeling that you must always be ready for battle eats away at your peace.
- Overworking: You start the day with a couple of to-dos, but the list expands to a few more before the day ends. You feel too guilty to leave unfinished tasks when office hours are over and as a model employee, you decide to work extra hours.
- A feeling of not having enough time: Multi-tasking has become commonplace in modern workspaces, with one employee having double or more workloads. It feels like you can never catch up with the consistent flow of tasks handed to you, especially if you’re the go-to person for everyone, from the menial document printing to essential obligations like creating presentations.
- Guilt over not working: When you’re used to running yourself ragged, you may seek opportunities to keep yourself busy even when you have a break because it feels “wrong” to stop. Doing so drains your mental energy.
- Declining health: You wear yourself out if you lose or gain weight, and experience persistent tiredness and fatigue. Things can hit rock bottom if you don’t take action.
Effects of Overworking
Spending a few extra hours in the office can have benefits. You use your skills to help your organization and create opportunities to demonstrate your worth, which you can take advantage of later to negotiate for better pay or career advancement. However, avoid doing it daily, as it can take a toll on your health. Here are several reasons overworking is discouraged.
1. Lack of Sleep
Sleep is the body’s stress recovery mechanism. When you lack adequate shuteye because you’re spending your supposed rest time scraping through the day with caffeine, don’t be surprised if you get headaches and body pains.
Losing sleep can make it challenging to maintain focus, decision-making and problem-solving, reducing the quality of your work performance and increasing the risk of errors. Long hours in the office also contribute to poor work-life balance, affecting your quality of life and time with loved ones.
2. Accumulated Stress
Your body has a reliable system to counter the debilitating effects of stress and keep you functioning. However, if you overwork consistently, it may lead to mental harm. Since you can’t restore yourself optimally through proper sleep, stress levels build up and affect your mood and cognitive functioning.
Occupational physical stress is linked with poorer memory performance and smaller hippocampal volume in older adults, suggesting people should reconsider midlife experiences such as physical stress at work, as they can adversely affect brain health later in life.
3. Burnout
Burnout can happen to anyone and multiple factors assist in its development — overworking is one of the many that’s avoidable. It initially begins with stress from excessive work and other unaddressed issues until it reaches a point of a diagnosed mental health condition.
Nearly three in five people have experienced adverse impacts of work-related pressure, including trouble focusing and a lack of interest and energy at work. The consequences of being overworked spill into your personal life and career, creating unnecessary problems.
While having a passion for work is good, grinding to the point of exhaustion is not. If you keep ignoring your body’s call for help, it may progress into depression, requiring the help of a mental health professional. A few days of respite won’t hurt your career, so take some time to heal.
4. Social Isolation
Working excessively can create a rift in your relationships and degrade your social health. Time is the currency you use to keep your connections with family or friends alive. By giving this precious resource to your work, you’re sacrificing the moments you’re supposed to spend with the important people in your life, putting a strain on the relationships that are pillars of your well-being.
Although it’s a saddening truth, many spend their days isolated from others because of the excessive demand from their jobs. If your organization or manager cares for you, they won’t compete with your personal life and rob you of the quality time dedicated to your loved ones. Instead, they will honor it.
5. Unhealthy Diet
Stress and cravings have an interesting relationship. Have you noticed yourself eating more sugary when stressed? That’s because cortisol — the stress hormone the body releases when you’re overworked — can increase food cravings, especially fatty, sweet and salty foods. When you’re feeling a lot of pressure, you’ll want something comforting, energizing and fatigue-eliminating — and sweets fit the bill in such situations.
Sugar briefly activates the brain’s reward center by releasing endorphins and dopamine, making you feel better after eating a slice of cake. However, it can be toxic in excess, as it impairs the body’s ability to regulate insulin effectively and causes inflammation. Plus, it increases the risk of anxiety, irritability and hunger, affecting brain function and structure.
Overworking also leads to poor nutritional choices. Since you’re too tired to prepare your own wholesome meal, reaching for unhealthy packed meals or ordering deep-fried fast food is the easiest option.
6. Getting Ill
When you feel overworked, it’s also common to feel like you’re not doing enough — which could’ve caused you to overwork in the first place. You may assume it’s necessary to push yourself to the limit to prove yourself to your boss, make extra for your savings or simply because you think you don’t deserve rest. However, overexertion can have dangerous outcomes.
For example, when working on a construction site in hot weather, you choose not to take breaks in the shade or drink water to rehydrate because you feel like the others have worked harder. Doing so can increase your risk for heatstroke if your body’s temperature reaches 104° Fahrenheit and it can’t cool itself down. Overworking eventually catches up to you in the form of an illness.
7. Depression
Depression is among the top three workplace issues for employee assistance experts. The overwhelming job responsbilities, long hours on the clock and the lack of mental health support contribute to chronic stress, driving employees to a diagnosis.
About 3% of short-term disability days are because of depression. For the company, this translates to lost productivity, which is only one of the many consequences of overworking the staff.
7. Reliance on Alcohol and Drugs
Effective coping mechanisms are vital in managing the stresses of work. People who lack these skills often resort to substances for stress relief. Roughly 22.5% of employees have used drugs or alcohol during work hours. Many rely on these substances in the hope of feeling better after going through some challenges at work, but the opposite happens, as these can leave them feeling worse.
In addition, drugs and alcohol have neurotoxic effects on the brain and damage the cells. Taking these to cope with workplace stress long term can increase the risk of substance-related brain changes or neurological issues. Learn healthy coping dynamics by seeking therapy or visiting your health care provider for suggestions.
Tips for Preventing Overwork
Overworking may seem like a trivial health issue until unprocessed stress snowballs into serious health outcomes. While organizations have more responsibility in sidestepping such situations, staff are encouraged to voice feedback to protect their well-being. Here are some strategies to resist the pressure of overworking and reclaim your life:
- Change your mindset about the “hustle culture” or “performative workaholism.” It won’t skyrocket your way to success, nor will it result in a fulfilling and meaningful career. Later in life, you’ll thank yourself for spending time with matters work-unrelated.
- Define your life priorities. Working a couple of hours more each week may be justifiable if you’re set to increase your savings to buy your dream home. Otherwise, evaluate if the extra work hours — that could be better spent with family — are worth it and support your life goals.
- Make changes at work. Don’t hesitate to bring the topic to your manager’s attention and ask to redistribute your workload. If you can’t accomplish the task on time, talk about decreasing the scope of work. Reject requests for overtime to preserve a work-life balance.
- Take your talents elsewhere. It’s your last resort, but if nothing changes after discussing it with your manager, it might be better to move on and get a new role at an organization with supportive values and culture.
Overworking Leads to Adverse Health Outcomes
Working 60 or 80 hours per week isn’t the key to success — it’s a recipe for burnout, depression and health deterioration. The hustle culture has led many to think grinding it out will take them closer to achieving success, but it ultimately leads to negative health outcomes and reduced quality of life.
Overtime work is voluntary, so there’s no need to feel pressure. The next time your manager requests you extend work hours, ask yourself if it’s a priority — and politely decline if it’s not.
Author Bio
Jack Shaw is a senior writer and editor at Modded, where he passionately explores the intricate connections between physical health, mental well-being, and the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for crafting engaging content, Jack’s articles offer valuable insights into living a balanced and fulfilling life.
