Elon Musk, Twitter’s new CEO and the world’s richest man, made headlines this week after some employees were told to work 12-hour shifts seven days a week to meet Musk’s November goals. Working long hours has long been Musk’s mantra.
Musk says it “varies per person, but about 80 sustained hours, sometimes peaking at 100.” Working long hours is not unique to him. Among 27 CEOs, Harvard researchers found they worked 62.5 hours a week on average.
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Risk Of A Stroke Or Heart Attack Goes Up
Working too long can be dangerous to your health. 745,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases were caused by working long hours in 2016, according to a study by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization.
Risk Of Injuries On The Job Goes Up
Getting physically hurt at work is more likely when you work long hours. Work at least 12 hours per day had a 37% increased hazard rate in a study that examined 110,236 job records from 1987-2000 using national longitudinal surveys.
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Your Sleep Suffers
Sleep is essential for our health. Long work hours contribute to short sleep duration, according to a review of 200 studies from 1998-2018. Short sleep leads to distraction, anxiety, irritability, and impulsive risk-taking. As a result, your mental health can be affected when you sacrifice sleep to keep working.
You Stop Being Good At Your Job
Morten Hansen, a management professor at the University of California, Berkeley, conducted a five-year study. A person’s performance can be improved if they work between 30 and 50 hours, but their performance starts to plateau after 50 hours. Businesses must realize that asking workers to work longer will not necessarily result in better results, but will certainly put their health at risk