by Gary Davis

Created on: May 11, 2011

What’s wrong with working long hours?  Isn’t it good to earn money to better your financial position?  Many of us get hooked into the idea of making a lot of money and in some cases we love to work “too much.”

According to My Attorney Blog, we unfortunately learn working 24/7 can lead to heart disease, depression and family discord. 

York Times adds that those who engage in too much work become counter-productive.  Is a lot of money worth it?  Actually money isn’t always the reason that people work all the time.

Why do people work long hours? 

Some people work to get recognition.  In fact sources like CareerBright.com offer advice to employees on how to get recognition such as documenting achievements.  I can attest to the fact that documenting achievements is important because it is one thing to tell someone you were in the Wall Street Journal and another thing entirely to show them the date or even present a copy.

businessballs.com and this helps show why people work so much and it includes not only attention but feeling that you have “completed yourself” in the reason for why you are here on earth.

We’ve learned why people can’t, won’t and don’t pull themselves from their jobs—so, what can happen to them, sometimes?

In looking at a highly reliable source we find a litany of reasons why overworking is bad for your health.  Arrow.com shows from her sources that overwork causes such things as sleep disturbances, upset stomachs and increased use of drugs and alcohol.

When you are working too much you can not possibly be getting enough sleep which means you can not be doing that good of a job-quality must suffer.

Consider the health of a worker’s family; they will possibly suffer medical side effects as well since they will be exposed to bad moods from not enough sleep.

Working too much can create stress which can raise blood pressure which can cause strokes and heart attacks.

Allow me to give you a personal account:

In 1988 I was a Director of a Medical Underwriting Department for a third-party administrator.  I was a heavy smoker and had a Type A personality.  I worked 80 hours per week.

One night I developed a headache that was persistent.  I stood up and found that my leg was numb.  My wife called an ambulance and I was taken to the Emergency Room where my blood pressure was found to be 240/120.  As it turned out I had endured a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) and the artery had dissected—I should have died.

I quit smoking and learned to relax.  I’m much healthier today.

What’s wrong with overwork?

Work like anything else in love should be done in moderation.  Whether it’s money, recognition or satisfaction you’re trying to attain, it will be of no value should you die.

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