You're working too much

Hello all you wonderful people. Happy spring to you. At last, we can come out of hibernation and take in some sun, something I'll be doing with the kids shortly after this article. I want to talk about work and how it affects our health. Work is a part of all of our lives, and we are going to look at exactly how much of our day is consumed with our jobs. 

If you are a "typical" working adult, you work around 8-10 hours per day, not including travel. Assuming you get the recommended 8 hours of sleep, that leaves you 6-8 hours to spend time with family, explore hobbies, socialize, clean your home, manage your finances, and any other thing you have as a priority in your life. Considering the constant high stress levels many of us endure in the work environment, that is a lot of time and stress for something that you may or may not find fulfillment from. 

And we all know stress has massive impact on our overall health. 

I was listening to a podcast last week talking about how physical and mental health are the same thing. It is not necessarily something I agree with, but we will be unpacking that theory in another article. What is certain is that the work patterns of the average American has negative implications on emotional, mental, and physical health. There isn't a surefire solution to an issue like this. Everyone is their own individual with their own situation, and one prescribed alternative doesn't work for all.

But it is likely you need a day off in the near future if you haven't taken one recently, and you likely need more time away from work than you've taken. This is meant to be an open discussion, so I would love to hear from all of you what you have found that works, or that doesn't work. Are you like many, who need a well earned rest from work, or a moment to rediscover what is truly important to you?

If you are, make time for it.