I know too many people that work far beyond a 40-hour week. It isn’t uncommon these days to hear of people working 60 hours a week or even more. While many jobs can be demanding and often require extra work, a lot of people are probably working more than they should.

Working long hours comes with an extensive list of health risks. Studies show that working long hours is associated with depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and heart disease.[1-3] If you spend a lot of your time at work, you likely get insufficient sleep, eat poorly, are more stressed, and spend less time being physically active. So you have to decide for yourself, is working overtime worth it? 

Working long hours and risky drinking

It is extremely common to wind down from the workday with a drink. But if you work overtime, you might be more likely to have a few too many, too often. A new study published in BMJ analyzed 61 studies (including 333,693 participants) from 14 countries around the world to look at the association between hours spent working and alcohol use. They found that longer working hours were associated with increased use of alcohol. Not only were people who work long hours more likely to drink, but they were also more likely to drink too much. People who worked more than 48 hours a week were 12% to 13% more likely to develop risky alcohol use compared to those working standard working hours (35-40 hours).[4]

Risky alcohol use means drinking enough to increase your risk for alcohol-related health problems. Health risks associated with the consumption of alcohol includes things like liver disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and injury, not to mention social costs like disruption of home life. In this study, risky alcohol use was defined as more than 14 drinks/week for women and 21 drinks/week for men (although in the United States this is usually defined as 7 drinks for women and 14 drinks for men).[4]

There are many possible reasons for this association. The authors speculate that alcohol may alleviate stress associated with working overtime, that depression and sleep disruptions may be part of the link, at that the “work hard play hard” culture of some work communities might be to partly to blame.[4]

Whatever the reason, it is important to be aware of the risks associated with working over and above the standard 40 hours a week. If you can, cut down on your hours. And if you find that you have no choice but to work long hours, do so smartly and safely. Keep your alcohol consumption in moderation, try to eat regularly and well, exercise as often as you can, and get enough sleep. Your body will thank you in the long run.

Share your experience

Do you have to work long hours? Have you ever found yourself falling into bad habits associated with your work schedule? Share your tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle while keeping up with the demands of work in the comments section below.

[1] Scand J Work Environ Health. 2014 Jan;40(1):5-18.

[2] J Occup Environ Med. 2013 Aug;55(8):863-72.

[3] Int J Cardiol. 2014 Feb 15;171(3):419-22.

[4] BMJ. 2015 Jan 13;350:g7772.