The more tasks we take upon ourselves, the more management values us. This is what the majority believes in. Meanwhile, doctors are certain that 70-hour-work week doesn’t do any good to your health or career.

When it comes to overworking, everything seems okay at first. Your organism has deposits of energy and can endure a couple of extra hours at work. Besides, a stressful environment can increase productivity at first. You find creative solutions easy and deal with tasks quickly under pressure. Then, it gradually turns into a bad habit. The bursts of creativity change for chronic fatigue. You cannot get up in the morning. You don’t hear an alarm clock. You need to pour in three or four cups of coffee every day. With time, even the simplest tasks require a lot of efforts, and there is not enough caffeine in the world to make your brain and body function. You are close to burnout.

Working yourself to death
Unfortunately, this is not a figure of speech. Too much work can literally result in death. Overworking is one of the factors leading to the mortality rate increase in the eastern countries. The Japanese even have a special term for that – karoshi. More than 20% of people in the country work at least 80 hours of overtime a month. Media, advertisement, IT, and medical care are the industries with the highest risk.

China is breaking the records: over half a million Chinese die from overworking yearly. The news about young people in their mid-twentieth and early thirtieth who suffer from strokes and heart attacks after working overtime get more frequent. According to BBC, the next generation of emerging economies featuring South Korea, India, and Taiwan are under threat, too.

Influence on health
Italian researchers from Bocconi University conducted a study among employees of big corporations who regularly work extra hours. The scientists estimated physiological measures and nervous system condition. Over half of participants were diagnosed with chronic fatigue. It means that people staying late at work don’t demonstrate higher performance. On the contrary, they find it hard to complete the usual tasks due to lower concentration and exhaustion. According to the scientists from The University of Texas, working over 45 hours a week for 10 years increases the risk of heart diseases by 43%.

Overworking is not necessarily related to employment. Undertaking too many responsibilities is a common problem among college students. If you face difficulties with multitasking or time management, take a rest. A reliable website that can write an essay for me can provide research paper help so you can focus on the things that not related to studies.

Reasons to leave in time

1. Overworking conceals inefficiency instead of dealing with it. Whether you are stuck in the routine until an assistant is appointed or you are a well-known procrastinator, spending extra hours at work is not a solution. Change your approach to work instead of sacrificing personal time.

2. Overworking doesn’t make you special. Of course, tirelessness, devotion, and persistence are positive qualities for someone working in a big dynamic company. But what if you were hired for your expertise and creativity? If you try to make friends by helping people when they don’t ask for it, you risk turning into a person working 7 days a week on someone else’s tasks.

3. Maybe you just lack experience. If you cannot handle a task on your own, ask for help or at least for a piece of advice. Share the duties with someone and fill the gaps in your knowledge.

4. Your extra hours do harm to a company. You might be a devil for work, but a team will find out only after you go on vacation or get sick. How do you think, will they like a logjam during your absence?

5. There’s a serious risk of burnout, both emotional and professional. You are too young to give up on your future.

How to deal with overworking
According to Business Insider, Japanese employers are currently struggling against overworking. Too diligent people are pressured by co-workers and management to mind the clock and leave in time. Moreover, they must report on overtime hours. Some go even further, forcing offenders to wear purple embarrassment capes. The latter helped to reduce the number of people staying late by half. Some companies are more creative with drones flying over the office playing music.

Harvard Medical School advises starting with simple things and self-control. Avoid stress eating, reduce the amount of sugary food and beverages, be more active physically, add diverse occupations to your weekly routine. Don’t refuse to go on vacations. Find some time to forget about all your duties. Order an essay from a writing service if you can’t handle it right now.

Here are some more things to prevent overworking and its negative consequences.
● Always check your calendar before committing to a task.
● Learn to say “No,” you don’t need to please anyone.
● Focus on one thing at a time instead of multitasking.
● Create a favorable environment for working.
● Set the boundaries between personal and professional.
● Minimize distractions, including emails and notifications.
● Don’t compare yourself to other people.
● Write down a list of things to do instead of keeping it in your head.

Modern society is a community of workaholics. Freelancing, remote working, and overestimation of corporate values turned us into people who consider it absolutely normal to work late at night and during the weekend. But if burnout is not the result you aim to achieve, keep the balance between work, rest and entertainment. This is the key to success, not overworking.