As we get older, the less emphasis we take to prioritize our health and instead put othersâ lives before our own. This is certainly a generous and expected act when you have kids or a 12-hour job to provide as the breadwinner for your family but have you ever taken some time for yourself to uncover why? Since money cannot satisfy or fix most things, especially when it comes to your physical and mental health, why do we put our health on the back burner to literally and eventually die? Besides getting a handyman to repair a leaky faucet or broken tire, a terminating illness wonât vanish just because youâve worked your butt off to buy and show off what you want.
Unfortunately, many of us either neglect or simply donât understand the detrimental side effects of workaholics unless you lived with Wall Street parents who dealt with back pain, gray hair at 40, 80 hour work weeks, and OCD due to the strain of work. No one ever signs up for this pain but when money wins as the deciding factor in our lives for a job, our lives can easily go downhill and we donât suffer until we really want to get out but its too late. We are enthralled in hustle culture. Everyone is working too hard and it is time to stop celebrating overworking. We focus too much on how much time we spend in the office or in front of the computer than the actual results produced. In fact, most of us follow the 80/20 rule. 80% of our results come from 20% of the effort or even at a lower scale with our obsession of tracking time. Just becuase you have 50 years of work experience doesnât mean you produced anything meaningful or drove innovation forward for that period of time. Most people donât realize that we have 1 year of experience in 50 years. Donât live the same life. Do something meaningful because you only have a short period of time on earth.
WFH Bust
This hustle culture has only accelerated since we went into lockdown feeling the pressure to answer every email and by accident work an extra 2â3 hours extra on average because of no commute and 5 ft to the home office/gym/bedroom/lounge area. Welcome to a 500 sqft apartment in NYC where your life is in one room. As with everything there are advantages. You could argue WFH or Zoom University isnât all bad since the major industries that have transitioned to online work such as finance and tech report major deals, record breaking contracts, and great performance all from home, finally rethinking the dreaded Friday meetings and awkward luncheon, lunchin whatever you want to call it gatherings.
In addition to COVID shifting our lifestyle, as the tech industry has played an immense impact on the way we communicate and work, we also tend to follow more of these inspiration, men, only men, still, that donât always possess the healthiest work ethic. It is tempting not to follow the brightest geniuses in the world such as Musk and Bezos as our portfolios are booming since the largest tech companies comprise 80% of the S&P 500âs gains and the market is up 15% YTD. Who wouldnât be upset? We must follow the greats since they have to be doing something right? Right?
Sleep Toss Up
Well, Musk in particular who is the biggest advocate for no sleep perpetuates this false sense of work ethic. Working hard or hardly working comes into question when you donât have sleep. There is nothing in your body that is not affected if you donâtâ sleep. It is the most powerful medicine to curing anything in your mind to the physical body and shouldnât be thought of as something made for lazy people. The truth is, as an employer, who doesnât want a dedicated employee who voluntarily works tirelessly all day or someone who is first and comes in last to shut the lights after the cleaners in the office?
Everyone but that isnât achievable because we are humans and have a life that needs to continue.
Sleep isnât for the weak, only for the smart.
We all know the health-related issues associated with work addiction which include:
-Depression and increased levels of hypertension, anxiety
-Cardiovascular disease
-Burnout and chronic stress
-68% in productivity
-OCD tendencies and symptoms
Yet there are still those naive college graduates that go into investment banking, consulting or medical school, the top jobs that have notoriously long grueling hours that also have the shortest retention rate due to this secret but expected side effects that donât convince graduates enough. Over my past few years at NYU, Iâve met a few seniors here and there that are extremely determined to stick with this business death path and sacrifice their long term health for short term lucrative paychecks. Their choice and life. There is always a smarter way out. As a 20-year-old myself now acting like a helicopter parent, Iâve preached for this to my friends: Have fun in your 20âs and 30âs but expect to pay a price that exceeds what you intend on spending long term and there is a 50% change your life could cut in half due to overwork. Just saying. Itâs all in your control.
But in all seriousness, after getting over the judgment calls that people wonât think of you highly for taking a break and setting boundaries to prevent workaholism to be a part of our lives, not the entire one, it is pertinent we understand how too much relaxation can get you out of the perfect state as well, if that even exists. Even if you are that student lured and drooling over that paycheck to make daddy proud youâre in business or want to brag to your friends, go for it. Some of us love adventure and want a shorter life and others want moderation, personally something I prefer as we are in it for the long haul.
Letâs discuss how breaks can do more harm than good so we can find that balance.
You Tend to Lose Focus
My mother and I usually take 2 vacations per year. Obviously, none this year so we cannot be more excited to book that trip once there is 75% herd immunity. These vacations are always in warm places because as New Yorkers, it is usually freezing or steaming here, we rarely get to expereince fall or spring, only for a few days so we prefer a nice mix of 70â80 degrees when we can. This is achievable in our familiar spots in the Bahamas in the winter and Hilton Head, South Carolina in the summer. Readers, happy to find out where you vacation to for optimal breaks đ
Fun fact: Hilton Head is the only island in the South that has never been affected by hurricanes. As you can tell, Iâm losing my focus already! Get it?! These trips are max a week because after that, well we naturally get bored and fed up with eating $60 meals and staring at blue water under a tent that we must reserve at 6 am for a decent view not in front of a garbage can or someone elseâs gazebo. Vacation people are tough and so are we because we take vacations and breaks seriously. After a week or even a couple of days depending on where we are and Iâm sure most people are like this too, we really look forward to getting back on routine. During this pandemic, because our schedules are off-balance, this is one of the dozens of reasons why we are feeling unproductive and simply unmotivated. Same goes for on vacation. Keep it short and sweet because you will never feel better about getting back to work that you love after a nice tan or souvenir in your bag!
You get out of the zen workflow optimal state
We all have different peak hours that we work best in. For practically all my life since I could tell the difference between night and day, Iâve been a morning person. I think this is mainly due to the fact that my parents work on Wall Street and have to get up at 5 am and usually come home until 11 am. As they are getting older, thankfully they donât have to go through this dreaded routine but after decades of waking up at that time, our household naturally doesnât get up past 7. So if you have a comment, preferably send it earlier the better as most of them tend to come late when Iâm snoozing! Iâm an exercise junkie so working out in the evenings will never work since I know for a fact, if I push it off, I just wonât do it.
Since Iâm a morning person, it is more common to do âreal intensive workâ in the mornings then because it is when you unleash your peak state of energy and performance. Anyone can be a morning person if they go to sleep with the birds as I do at 9 pm. Up to you! But despite being a morning person and exercise isnât considered âintensive workâ, I still get my Peloton quick 45 minutes 5 am sprint over with because it makes me feel accomplished and even have more energy to work for the rest of the morning. Strange right? Everyone has a different rhythm and works towards that. Once I got into college and realized that there will always be mundane tasks to do as part of being an adult such as laundry, errands, post office runs, groceries, etc., I focused more on when I could fit them in, but definitely not prioritize them as they take up mental energy. Timing can make or break you. In addition, my quick tips for optimal performance include:
-Not to eat a heavy meal right before your work session as it can make you drowsy,
-I always work for 20 minutes on and off
-Drink a glass of water as dehydration is a key sign of tiredness without wasting calories!
Loose Track of Time
If you take too much time off during vacation or extend your power nap to a full-fledged dream over the recommended nap time of 20 minutes, this can make you extremely groggy, cranky, unproductive, moody, and in fact more anxious. As with timing your work blocks, timing your sleep schedule so you donât go overboard is key as well. Of course, donât punish yourself for sleeping an extra 30 minutes over your suggested nap time, but over time it can kill your productivity as your mind thinks it is time for more sleep and you end up not getting anything done.
Too much of anything is not a good thing!
Increase likelihood of taking fake stimulants = addiction
Along with being groggy and the side affects that come along with feeling too relaxed and over rested which is a thing, this can cause you to eat more and take ailments that you really didnât need if you just drank more water for an extra energy boost, had stricter bed and nap time, decreased caffeine intake and limited alcohol use as some pointers. Simply going for a 10-minute walk outside for fresh air, getting your daily dose of 15 minutes of Vitamin C and D, or just talk with a friend on the phone to boost your dopamine and adrenaline from strengthening a connection with someone can all lead you to become more naturally energized becuase the less we consume in anything, especially supplements, meds and drugs, the better. There are many other healthier ways to push through a tired restless moment in life and there will surely be days when we are tired and just want to do nothing at all, but those are also the best unexpected moments when a light bulb flashes or we feel the most alive. Boredom is key until it sabotages your creativity. Plan and strategize your time and breaks wisely, not just your career.
Signs of bigger mental health problems to come
The typical side effects of someone with depression, deep anxiety, prone to suicide, or even with an eating disorder is prolonged sadness, no interest in things one used to enjoy, constant tiredness, and no appetite. When you find yourself needing an extensive break or sleeping for days, this can be a telltale sign that you should seek a medical professional. Of course, the first things that comes to mind with anything related to a counselor, therapy, a doctor, etc. is fear of death or diagnosis but the worst thing you can do for yourself is not check up on something before itâs too late. Since I was 18 with an eating disorder constantly sleeping and with no energy, I sought help. I didnât take any stimulants or meds to help me. I began with an eating plan to help me build a healthier relationship with food and not calling things good, clean, bad, gross, a diet, all of these buzzy words and instead ate for fuel and slept for rest not to get away from the world. Break that stigma against mental health becuase if you are feeling this way, this is the best and free option you should always take. Never ever be embarrassed.
Along with personal finance, our bodies are all individualized and have different needs depending on our age, demographic, gender, and overall work risk tolerance we can handle. Regardless if you are Musk who allegedly never slept in the last 15 years or a blue-collar worker with a steady 9â5 job with the best health records, there should never be any shame in taking some time off to rejuvenate or leave work early to take a quick power nap for growth but as with everything, moderation is key. If you love your job, take a few days off from work and see how eager you will be to come back to it. If not, then you must seek help either with a counselor or in yourself through possibly another break. Whatever it is, remember it is individualized and personal so take all the break you need.
Readers, how do you tailor your breaks to not go overboard? Do you set boundaries for work/life balance?