Effects of work on health: 4 ways your work can harm your health

Our job takes up a large part of our lives. Think about it: on an average working day, work takes about 33 percent of the 24 hours. Therefore, it is not surprising that our career or our work can harm our health.

But how do you know that this is indeed the case?

How work harms your health

Here are four ways your work may be harming your health.

You sit all-day

Do you have an office job? Then pay attention, because all that sitting is not good for you at all. When you sit for more than three hours, your blood vessels start to work less well, and the blood flow to your brain decreases. The more you sit, the greater the risk of diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease.

The solution? Think of a standing desk so that you can regularly work standing. But of course, you can also get up a bit more often (then you can immediately get a glass of water) and do some exercises. Also, make sure to take around every day, and you will limit the damage of your office job.

You don’t take enough breaks

A survey conducted early this year found that 28 percent of home workers feel guilty when they take a break. And that while a person needs breaks

. You harm your health if you don’t look up or back from your screen during the day and even gobble your lunch down behind your computer.

Whether it’s micro-breaks, the lunch break, or longer breaks, research shows that they positively affect our (mental) health and, therefore, our work.

The separation between work and private life is too small

Be honest: how often do you check your e-mail when you should be free? Do you have your workgroup chat on notifications or not? And how often do you work for an hour? Of course, these are not earth-shattering events in their own right.

But be careful that that one hour of work does not gradually become three a week.

If you not only work too much but are also always available, it will at some point affect your mental health.

You have aches and pains that you can’t explain

We often forget, but our mental and physical health are linked. When you have too much stress, this will eventually manifest itself in physical complaints. It is a clear sign from our bodies that we can no longer ignore the pressure.

Stress at work can have many causes. The separation between work and private life is not only crucial for your mental health. It may also be that you have too much work pressure, that you don’t get along well with your colleagues or boss, or that you don’t like your job anymore. Your body often knows before your head that it is time for a new job