Chronic Overworking: Danger and Consequences

Male problems

We hear the same thing from everywhere – you should leave your comfort zone, start working more and stop whining that you are tired. If you want to succeed, you should forget about laziness, become a guru of time-management skills, and make more money. It is the only right way. Otherwise, you will be a loser. People don’t even notice how they start participating in this rat race, work more than usual and sleep five hours at best. They suffer from fear of losing scores, so they voluntarily bury themselves under papers and tasks. This story starts somewhere in a high school or college, when you feel overwhelmed with assignments, take some extra classes, combine everything with an aside job, but still refuse to pay for essay and free up your schedule at least a bit. You scroll down the Instagram news feed, look at all these successful people, and do your best to follow their example. The situation becomes even worse after graduation since you torment yourself with a desire to prove your worth to everyone. You end up with chronic overworking, health problems, and dissatisfaction with your life.

1. You have sleeping issues

When you feel constantly overwhelmed with tasks, your brain becomes restless. If such a state lasts for too long, you inevitably face sleeping issues. Numerous studies have shown that if a person works more than forty hours per week and stays late at night, they have trouble sleeping. It can result from constant stress, staying in front of the bright computer screen, and the inability to unwind at the end of the working day. Besides, some people sacrifice sleep for the sake of computer games or another episode of the TV show. However, when you don’t satisfy your basic need for too long, it inevitably leads to other unpleasant and even dangerous consequences. Thus, you run the risk of gaining excessive weight, developing heart diseases, neurosis, and other mental issues. In other words, lack of sleep will make you an unhappy person with many health problems.

Sleep Inertia

2. Your habits leave much to be desired

Chronic overworking takes a toll on your mental stability and body. When you work too much, you find neither time nor energy for physical activity and cooking healthy dishes. Thus, the chances are high that you skip some meals and replace normal food with sweet snacks and coffee. You believe that caffeine will boost your energy and help you keep on going.

However, on the contrary, it takes away your last energy because such an unhealthy food choice doesn’t provide you with the required ingredients. Students who reject essay order and try to handle all the tasks themselves often overdo it with coffee consumption since they are forced to stay up late at night. Besides, people opt for junk food since the lack of sleep and general tiredness makes them choose a “fast” energy source. Some people who work or study way too much turn to alcohol to make their brains turn off and relax finally.

3. Your productivity goes down

When you increase working hours, you decrease your productivity. Numerous studies have shown that people who work about sixty-five hours per week and more don’t achieve better results than their colleagues who work about fifty hours. An exhausted person who doesn’t get enough sleep but treats themselves to junk food cannot boast of productivity. When you work in a multitasking mode, you cannot achieve outstanding results since you lose sight of a bigger picture and increase the likelihood of making mistakes. Many people got into such a trap when they became obsessed over a project and turned a blind eye to all other key aspects.

4. You feel blue

Sad Man

Most people who suffer from chronic overworking either live a full-fledged life only on the weekends or work seven days a week. Such a situation takes a toll on their mental conditions and increases the likelihood of developing depression. Their minds are constantly occupied with tasks and to-do lists, so they stop noticing everything pleasant that happens to them daily. They focus more on things they don’t have and feel dissatisfied with their lives. In other words, their thoughts are either in the past or in the future. In the first case, they reflect on things they would never bring back again and feel blue because of that. In the second case, they worry about things that haven’t happened yet. They dream of a “completely different life” that will happen to them one day when they leave this vicious circle. However, unfortunately, they do nothing to change the situation for the better.

5. Your back and neck hurt

When a person burdens themselves with unpleasant things and does nothing to get rid of them, their back and neck can start aching a lot. Most modern people work on computers and laptops. It means that their working day goes in front of the monitor. They stay in the same position for long hours, so it is not surprising their muscles get tensed. Prolonged stress and lack of proper nutrition combined with a sedentary way of life result in various health conditions. And the longer the situation stays the same, the more critical it becomes. If a person is self-employed, the likelihood of developing back and neck issues dramatically increases since it can be hard to make oneself adhere to a regime and make breaks.