Many of us tend to wear our work stress as a badge of honour and see working long hours as a measure of self-importance, but it turns out its actually damaging not only our health but also our careers.
And while it’s no surprise that the long hours and stress can impact your overall wellbeing, according to a new study from the City University of London, working “too hard” can also have a negative impact on your career.
Researches studied date from 51,895 employees from 36 European countries and looked at the effects of working overtime as well as “work intensity” on both overall well-being, including stress, fatigue and job satisfaction as well as on career, so career prospects, job security and recognition.
"We were somewhat surprised to find that work effort, whether overtime or work intensity, did not predict any positive outcomes for employees," Dr. Argyro Avgoustaki, assistant professor of management at ESCP Europe Business School and Dr. Hans Frankort, senior lecturer in strategy at Cass Business School, the authors of the study, told Insider.
They found that more work effort negatively impacted both overall well-being and therefore career-related outcomes.
"Practitioners and policymakers worry a lot about long hours and overtime, yet our findings could imply that work intensity (i.e., the amount of effort per unit of time) might be the more pressing issue," the researchers said.
So there’s something to be said for the old ‘working smarter not harder’ saying…
