Linked – Why You Should Stop Working on the Weekends – for Your Health
Go ahead and finish up your work week today, and go have a weekend, cool? All that extra work is not good for you.
“Some employees may think logging weekend hours is good for their career, but plenty of research suggests it’s bad for their health. One study by Marianna Virtanen of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and colleagues, for example, found that people who work long hours are 12 percent more likely to become heavy drinkers. Similar research found an association between overwork and sleeping problems, depression and heart disease. And another study found an association between overwork by low-income workers and Type 2 diabetes. “If you don’t have a start and an end to a week, then it’s just one long continuous work week, which can be problematic,” says Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist and performance coach in New York City and author of the book “Be Fearless: Change Your Life In 28 Days.” “People need time to reset, recharge and catch up on things. Simply put, if they don’t have a life, then they should get one.”
Working excessive weekends hours can also damage your mental health, says Mayra Mendez, a licensed psychotherapist and program coordinator for intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health services at Providence Saint John’s Child and Family Development Center in Santa Monica, California. “Studies have shown that people who typically work long hours over an extended period have a higher risk of experiencing depression,” Mendez says. “Taking work home contributes to long hours involved in work-related activities that adds to a prolonged experience of stress, interrupts social plans, results in less time spent with loved ones and creates distance in relationships. If work is stressful, demanding and restricting, taking it home will interfere with mind-body recovery and the recuperation process. The mind needs to decompress and clear.”
