The 7 consequences of work overload

Work is necessary, there is no doubt about that. In addition to giving us to survive, it is an element that organizes our time and gives us a professional label that defines us.

However, if time is limited and adequate working conditions are offered, in the long term our health will suffer. Both physically and mentally, working more than we should hurts us, making us more unhappy and less productive.

For this reason it is so important to become aware of the consequences of work overload, which we will see below in addition to what can be done to avoid such a phenomenon.

• Related article: "Work and organizational psychology: a profession with a future"

Main consequences of work overload on worker health

Work is a very important aspect of our lives, not only for its financial reward.

Employment is something that occupies a good part of our day to day, giving us a more or less stable schedule, which organizes our life and gives us a certain security of order and balance. However, on many occasions we end up working more than necessary, sacrificing other aspects of our life and acquiring all kinds of problems on an emotional, psychological and physical level.

Both workers and their superiors try, either by their own desire or by legal obligation, to respect the maximum of the 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure and 8 hours of sleep, but this, in practice, turns out to be very difficult fulfill it. There are many jobs that end up putting more workload on their workers than what had been agreed, causing dissatisfaction in your employees.

Working more than you want reduces your productivity in the long run. If we are investing for a long time all our resources, both physical and cognitive, it is to hope that sooner or later we end up working worse than we usually do under normal conditions. This adds even more stress to the worker, who fears for his job and his continued income.

Work overload is something that everyone experiences differently. There are those who work better under pressure, managing well the fact that their boss has put more work on them than normal. Others, on the other hand, feel overwhelmed more quickly, working worse.

Either way, it is understood by work overload the consequence of assigning additional functions to the worker in an excessive, disproportionate and constant way. The worker does not feel stimulated, doing a work of poorer quality and seeing his health affected.

Main consequences

Next we will see the main consequences of work overload.

1. Anxiety

If the job exhausts and exhausts the worker, it is not surprising that, in the long run, he himself ends suffering from anxiety problems.

Working more than you should, having to work overtime, meeting deadlines, or combining daily tasks with those appear at the last minute generate stress, which makes the body prepare for stressful situations and affecting both physical health as mental.

People who constantly suffer from anxiety are more vulnerable to problems such as diabetes, obesity, heart and digestive problems. They tend to eat more, smoke, or engage in riskier and more dysfunctional behaviors.

2. Depression

Depression is one of the most serious consequences of work overload, along with anxiety. Being depressed does not necessarily mean constantly crying or give the feeling of being sad. It also implies irritability, apathy and great demotivation.

Overwork frustrates us, makes us feel like we could be dedicating ourselves to something we like. But, when we get home, we don't feel like spending time on what we like, such as activities beneficial to our health such as sports, reading, walking, spending time with our loved ones or relax.

This causes us to become even more frustrated, entering a continuous state of irritability and dissatisfaction, making feelings of deep sadness worse when we see how our job is consuming us.

3. The burnout syndrome

Related to stress and depression we have the case of the famous Burnout syndrome, a problem that occurs due to burning due to work. This syndrome has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and involves emotional, psychological and physical problems.

An important part of the workers suffer from this health condition, living in a constant state of stress and anxiety along with depressive symptoms. Its prevalence in the population is increasing, with which health organizations and companies are increasingly involved in avoiding it in the workplace.

• You may be interested: "Burnout: how to detect it and take action"

4. Trouble sleeping

It is quite common for those people who have to work more than necessary to stay until the wee hours of the morning working. This disrupts circadian cycles, leading to serious sleep problems in the long run..

Even when he can sleep, the worker has trouble falling asleep. You can't because, being in bed, you think about everything that has been left for the next day, or you wonder if your boss is going to surprise you with more work.

This means that, in addition to taking time to sleep, your sleep is not repaired and, as a consequence, the next day I am even more exhausted, not being able to perform adequately at the job.

5. Muscle pains

While every job is different, in all of them our musculoskeletal system suffers. We are more prone to muscle aches and injuries.

In those professions where several physical efforts have to be made, in case you spend too much time doing them, the joints end up suffering, in addition to running the risk of wearing down the cartilage and causing injuries, such as lumbago, sprains and sprains

In the case of office work, in what is usual to spend hours sitting in front of a computer, it is quite common to feel pain in the back. In fact, sitting in one position for more than 20 minutes, especially with a curved back, can cause muscle damage.

6. Deterioration of social relationships

There is no doubt that working more than you should means seeing our friends and family less. The more time we spend at work, the less we can spend with our loved ones, causing relationships to cool down.

But it's not just relationships that deteriorate because of this. They are also affected because, when we get home, we don't feel like talking to our family or meeting our friends. We prefer to stay in bed or rest in any other way where we don't have to interact with other people.

7. Bad work dynamics

In addition to all these health consequences, it is expected that in the office, due to the great pressure on its workers, they begin to have relational problems between them.

Irritability, depression, anxiety and frustration will make workers not want to see or paint themselves, since they associate their presence with all kinds of negative feelings. All this will turn simple misunderstandings into all kinds of conflicts., which will decrease productivity in the company.

How to avoid it?

To avoid work overload and its negative consequences, the company and its workers must take measures so that work does not become something that ends up consuming them. In addition to trying to respect the hours stipulated in the contracts, an attempt should be made to promote a good corporate culture, especially related to organization and order, in order to avoid workers leaving work for later that they will have to do overtime.

The company, in case it has seen that the work overload has occurred, must identify what have been the causes for this phenomenon to occur. Once identified, you will need to mobilize resources to ensure that it does not happen again, or design protocols to be able to manage its appearance and avoid its harmful effects, both in the collective productivity of the organization and in the health of the workers.

One of the problems of companies that contributes to work overload is put long-term, long-term deadlines for large and important jobs, making their workers trust themselves, leave it for last and, seeing that the delivery date is approaching, they put themselves at it for hours, at the cost of their health. A very good way to avoid this phenomenon is to break down tasks into small objectives, more achievable in the short term and that can be easily accomplished on a daily basis.

A fundamental tool in any company should be teamwork, especially in its intention to avoid work overload. Instead of putting all the weight on one person, putting yourself in a team of several workers prevents them from getting burned so much and better coordination. Basically, it consists of delegating functions, making the responsibility fall on several people instead of all on one, being less overwhelming the achievement of the goals.

Bibliographic references:

• Gil-Monte, P. R., García-Juesas, J. A., & Hernández, M. C. (2008). Influence of work overload and self-efficacy on burnout syndrome in nursing professionals: a study in nursing professionals. Interamerican Journal of Psychology, 42 (1), 113-118.