Increasing working hours are responsible for a significant drop in the health of Australian workers and no-one is feeling it worse than the white collar worker, an Australia Institute Study has revealed today.
But while the Public Health Association is pleading with Aussie workers to slow down and asking employers to be more accommodating when staff are sick, it’s time the rest of us took some personal responsibility for our own wellbeing.
Longer working hours are obviously a reality and life is stressful, especially if you’re a working parent or carer and working in an environment that’s under-resourced, but keeping tabs on your own good health has more to do with education about what it means to be healthy (and then being organised enough to do it) than how supportive your boss will be when it’s time to duck out for a doctors appointment.
According to the AIS study, at the first sign of work stress 50 per cent of us stop exercising and 35 per cent stop eating healthily:
‘We don’t have time for either prevention or cure,’’ said the Australia Institute’s deputy director, Josh Fear.
Society’s obsession with quick-fix health doesn’t help either. Every second week there’s another food group best avoided or exercise guaranteed to make us fitter, stronger or better than before. But instead of inspiring us, it’s just making it harder.
We’ve overcomplicated what it takes to have good health so much that it’s no wonder it seems easier to do nothing at all rather than spending the small amount of time required to organise ourselves to make sure we stay healthy.
A colleague recently told me that despite making 5am starts he hits a local gym at 3am in the morning before making the commute to work, just to make sure he stays fit.
And another friend, admittedly a champion in all things health with an enviable glow to prove it, wrote on her Facebook page:
“People who say they r too busy for exercise are full of it. Im at work 11 hrs a day with 2 hrs commute and I manage a minimum of 2hrs every day !
But what else can you do to stay healthy when you’re run off your feet at work?”
Dr Richard Denniss, Executive Director of AIS says open communication is key.
Here are his top three suggestions for keeping yourself healthy at work. Add yours below:
1.Keep track of what time you come into and leave work everyday for a week. “The average worker in Australia donates 6.5 weeks per year to their employers and that adds up to approximately $72billion a year.”
2.Talk with your family, colleagues and your employer about what constitutes a fair day’s work. “If going home at 5pm is a challenging or provocative it’s definitely time to discuss expectations with your boss.”
3.Get yourself a leave pass for Go Home on Time Day and participate. “Make a commitment to yourself, stick it on or near your desk and leave on time November 24 and promise yourself to do it regularly from then on.”
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