Is ‘Always On’ Culture Ruining Your Health? What Happens to Your Body When You Don’t Take Time Off

From mensjournal.com

By Tom Ward

In a world obsessed with doing more, experts say downtime is the key to peak performance 

I’ve been feeling a bit burned out lately. In general, there’s just a lot going on. I’m not talking about what’s on the news, but in my career and life. I’m training for two half marathons while also trying to improve my bouldering. I’m busier than ever with work, which is great (*grimace face*), my weekends are fully booked up with other people’s weddings and birthdays, and on top of it all, my car’s about to give up the ghost. 

In Britain, we have a saying, ‘Keep calm and carry on’. I suppose the idea is to embrace stoicism. Stiff upper lip, and all that. To me, it sounds like a great way to have a heart attack, aneurysm, or both. Because, in a world that tells us we always need to be on, always need to be optimising, need to be earning and investing, getting up at 3 a.m. to work out, carving out time with our loved ones, studying and more, there’s very little time for you to, you know, sit with yourself and be happy.

I’m desperately in need of this. And maybe you are too, which is why I reached out to athletes, creatives, and experts to ask why burnout can feel inevitable, how it’s impacted them, and what we can all do about it.

Are We Doomed to Overwork?

Lewis Moses is an ultra runner and the director of Run Through coaching. As an athlete and a self-employed businessperson, he knows that it can be difficult to close the laptop at the end of the day. 

“It’s easy to stay glued to the desk and just keep going; there’s no natural cut-off point, so the days blur together,” he says.

Worryingly, Moses has found that overworking has been detrimental to his health.

“When you’re burned out, the first things to slip are training and your wellbeing,” he says. “I’ve been there. You stop thinking clearly and start reacting instead of leading.”

Occasionally, the stress of balancing two careers has been so much that Moses says he’s been forced to stop and rethink how his week was structured. That extra run he was squeezing in was helping because his head was stuck on emails. And that extra hour at the desk wasn’t making him more productive, just more tired. 

The Spillover Effect of Constant Stress

It’s something I can relate to; checking emails at 11 p.m. isn’t getting a head start on the next day’s work; it’s robbing yourself of your downtime, and almost ensuring you won’t be able to sleep because you’ll be up sweating inconsequential details that definitely could have waited until morning. And with the general lack of sleep and never being able to turn your brain off, you’re not able to show up the way you’re meant to. “On the personal side, you carry the stress home without meaning to; you’re shorter with people, or you’re half-listening because your brain’s still churning through tomorrow’s to-do list,” says Moses. Again, it’s something I can relate to. Instead of keeping work in my 9-5, it takes over my life to the point where it’s rare if I can enjoy a day off without thinking about it.

There might be another way. As a multi-hyphenate author, model, psychotherapist, and fitness instructor, Eloise Skinner says doing what she loves now is less stressful than when she was stuck in a corporate role in a past career. 

“It was easier to feel exhausted because the work had a single focus,” she says. “Having lots of different careers allows for a frequent switch in focus. If I feel overwhelmed or stressed, I can usually switch into doing something completely different, which gives a bit of perspective and space.”

So how can we make the change?

Why Do Humans Need Downtime?

                                                                                          J.A. Bracchi / Getty Images

Speaking with her psychotherapist hat on, Skinner says that there are huge benefits to making ourselves take some downtime. “On a mental level, it can allow us to reduce our stress and anxiety levels, providing us with space to find perspective and new ways to look at problems or challenges,” she says. 

I’m with her there; an actual holiday, like over the December break, often does wonders for my mind. Things that seemed important in late November are often forgotten about by January.

“I think we need downtime because the brain simply isn’t built to run flat-out all the time; it needs space to process and reset, the same way your legs need a rest day after a hard session,” says Moses. 

He adds that, when he actually wants to switch off, he’ll go for a run with others, so that rather than being alone with his problem-obsessed brain, he has space for a normal, human conversation. It works wonders. 

“Being ‘always on’ doesn’t make you sharper; it blunts you,” he says. “You get more reactive, less logical, and worse at the very things you’re working so hard to be good at.”

What the Research Says

As for studies on the benefits of downtime, a 2018 article in the journal Nature found that downtime can be supportive for brain health, providing our brain with space and time to consolidate memories and process information. Again, it’s all about that new perspective.

What’s more, a 2016 study from Florida Gulf Coast University seems to confirm this, suggesting that taking time off from physical activity allows us to spend more time in deep, internal thought. 

Meanwhile, a 2022 study analysis confirmed that micro-breaks are “efficient in preserving high levels of vigour and alleviating fatigue.”

On the physical side, Skinner says that downtime allows us to relax, reducing the physiological impact of stress or anxiety like insomnia, muscle tension, and even digestive issues. 

“When we’re constantly responding to emails, notifications, meetings and deadlines, we’re keeping our brain’s executive control network switched on,” says Scott Capelin, founder of inLIFE Wellness. 

During periods of rest, however, another network called the default mode network (DMN) becomes more active. This network is involved in memory consolidation, self-reflection, problem solving, and creative insight. 

“Many of our best ideas don’t happen while we’re staring at a screen,” adds Capelin. “They arrive during a walk, in the shower, or while driving home.”

In other words, being always ‘on’ keeps our stress response activated. And, as Capelin explains, while short bursts of stress can improve performance, chronic activation elevates cortisol and can impair our mood, decision-making, creativity and relationships. 

“People often assume they’ll get more done by working longer, but cognitive performance actually declines when the brain isn’t given opportunities to recover,” he says, adding that one of the biggest casualties of constant busyness is creativity. 

How Can I Find Balance?

If all of the above is setting off alarm bells in your head, it’s probably time to slow down, reassess, and ask yourself how you can take your foot off the gas somewhat moving forward. Capelin has some tips:

Plan Your Week, Not Just Your Day

Before the week begins, block out periods that are intentionally unscheduled. If every hour has a task attached to it, your brain never gets the chance to recover.

Create Small “Buffer Zones”

Leave 10 to 15 minutes between meetings or appointments instead of running back-to-back all day. Those small gaps reduce mental fatigue and improve focus for the next task.

Accept That Not Everything Deserves Your Attention

Many people carry around an endless list of low-value tasks. Ask yourself: ‘If this wasn’t on my list already, would I choose to do it today?’ If the answer is no, it probably isn’t essential.

Schedule Device-Free Time

Even 30 to 60 minutes without notifications, email, or social media allows your brain to shift out of reactive mode. You don’t have to meditate. Reading, walking, gardening, or simply sitting quietly can provide the same restorative effect.

Revisit Your Long-Term Goals Regularly

Many people become busy chasing commitments that no longer align with what’s most important to them. A monthly review helps eliminate obligations that create activity without creating progress.

Practice Letting Small Things Go

Some people benefit from deliberately leaving a non-essential email unanswered until tomorrow or allowing a minor task to remain unfinished. It can feel uncomfortable initially, but it teaches your brain that not everything is urgent. Over time, this reduces the constant sense of pressure that keeps many people mentally switched on.

Ultimately, he says that downtime isn’t the opposite of productivity; it’s one of the conditions that makes sustained productivity possible. 

“The goal isn’t to do less, it’s to recover well enough that the time you do spend working is more focused, creative and effective.”

Of course, if it were that easy, you wouldn’t be reading this article. Feeling guilty about taking time off is a real thing, but one we should try to overcome. “If we really struggle to justify taking time out, it can help to plan some downtime that feels structured and organised,” says Skinner. 

Try planning a weekend away, then you still have the structure your brain likes, but you’ve applied it to something restorative—not just clearing out your email inbox. 

“Scheduling downtime can be the first step to unwinding tension about always needing to be working,” says Skinner. 

And don’t we all deserve a bit more of that?

https://www.mensjournal.com/health/why-downtime-beats-burnout-expert-guide

Is your job costing you sleep?

From consumeraffairs.com

New research reveals how desk time and odd hours may quietly disrupt your rest

• Findings from a recent study found that sedentary jobs—where you sit most of the day—were tied to a 37% rise in insomnia-like symptoms over 10 years.

• Non-traditional work schedules (like evening or weekend shifts) led to a 66% higher risk of needing “catch-up sleep” such as naps or sleeping in.

• These sleep problems often persist: around 90% of people with insomnia-like issues stayed in that pattern a decade later.

Researchers from the University of South Florida set out to see how modern jobs—with lots of screen time, sitting still, or odd work hours—might quietly chip away at our sleep. 

They used data from the Midlife in the United States study, tracking over 1,000 full-time employees twice across roughly a 10‑year span. Instead of looking at just hours asleep, they explored different “sleeper types”—like good sleeper, insomnia sleeper, and catch‑up sleeper—considering how these patterns evolved over time. 

Findings from a recent study highlighted that non-traditional work schedules, as well as sedentary work, can lead to a higher risk of insomnia. Image (c) ConsumerAffairs

The study

Participants reported on a range of sleep dimensions: how long they slept, how regular their schedule was, how long it took to fall asleep, symptoms like night-time waking or daytime tiredness, and even napping habits. 

The research team used a technique called latent transition analysis, which groups people by patterns instead of single traits. That lets them track how someone might move from being a good sleeper to an insomnia or catch‑up sleeper over the decade—and see whether job traits predicted those shifts.

The results

The study found that most workers (around 80%) fall into sedentary jobs, and those folks were 37% more likely to end up in the “insomnia sleeper” group—struggling with falling asleep, waking at night, and still feeling drained the next day.

The researchers also found that people working nonstandard shifts—like evenings, nights or weekends—were 66% more likely to be “catch-up sleepers,” meaning they needed extra naps or slept in just to function. 

These weren’t temporary issues: nearly 90% of those in the insomnia group stayed there 10 years later—showing that work-related sleep problems can seriously stick. 

Why this matters 

This study shows that it’s not just stress keeping you up—it could be your job’s basic setup: sitting all day or working odd hours. These factors don’t just affect you temporarily—they can shape your sleep for years. 

The good news? Since job design matters, employees (and employers) might find ways to reshape work habits—stand more, move more, simplify schedules—to protect sleep long-term.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/is-your-job-costing-you-sleep-080525.html

Late shifts, sedentary lifestyles, hyperconnectivity, stress: How work robs us of sleep

From english.elpais.com

Over time, our schedules encourage a sustained alteration in biological cycles. This translates into an alteration in sleep rhythms

Carlos O. N. is 44 years old and works for the Madrid Metro. He’s been pulling the night shift for 10 years. Before that, he worked the evening shift for five years, finishing at 2 a.m. He tells EL PAÍS that he sleeps between five and six hours a day. However, he clarifies that reaching six is pretty exceptional.

“Anyway, I have the feeling that it doesn’t matter how many hours you sleep, because they’re never as restorative,” he sighs. “Sleeping during the day doesn’t produce the same quality of rest as sleeping at night.”

At work, he explains, it’s common for colleagues on the night shift to chat about the amount of sleep they get. As a general rule, they tend to only get a few low-quality hours. “You go against the normal life of society,” Carlos adds. “And, if you want to adapt to it, you end up feeling sleepy; you drag along a sleep deficit that takes its toll on your body. Over the years, I’ve noticed a fairly significant deterioration.”

“Capitalism is killing us with sleep,” says Juan Antonio Madrid, a professor of Physiology and director of the Chronobiology and Sleep Laboratory at the University of Murcia in Spain. During an interview with EL PAÍS, the expert laments that our society is plagued by “chronodisruption,” in which excessive light at night, long shifts, sedentary lifestyles, screen usage before going to sleep and distorted work and leisure schedules encourage a sustained, long-term alteration of biological rhythms. This ultimately translates into an alteration of sleep rhythms.

In his reflection, Madrid repeatedly refers to the impact that work schedules have on sleep.

According to the results of a recent study, non-standard work schedules — namely shift work, especially at night — together with sedentary jobs, are two of the most important threats to sleep health.

Specifically, non-standard shift work schedules correlate with a 66% higher risk of employees needing to “catch-up on sleep,” which is defined as frequent naps, or sleeping in on weekends. “The way we design work can pose serious, long-term threats to healthy sleep, which involves more than just getting eight hours. It also involves falling asleep easily, sleeping through the night and having a consistent sleep schedule,” says psychologist Claire Smith, a researcher at the University of South Florida and lead author of the study.

For María José Martínez Madrid — coordinator of the Chronobiology working group of the Spanish Sleep Society (SSS) — these results fully coincide with past scientific evidence, which indicates that night shifts and rotating shifts “make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep, while they reduce the duration and quality of sleep and cause alterations in circadian rhythms.”

In fact, the impact is such that shift work sleep disorder (SWSD) is already recognized by the medical community. The disorder is characterized by the presence of insomnia and excessive sleepiness. Its development, the coordinator adds, is due to the desynchronization that occurs between work hours and the internal circadian clock: “When work is done at times that don’t coincide with the natural phases of sleep and wakefulness, a sleep debt accumulates. Holidays and/or weekends become the opportunity to compensate for this debt, although this recovery is never complete, since lost sleep isn’t recovered proportionally.”

In this regard, Martínez recommends that employees who work shifts maintain a sleep schedule that’s as regular as possible — even during days off — and plan strategic naps before or during night shifts. She also calls on companies to facilitate access to lounges and encourage the possibility of short naps during long shifts, while providing education on sleep hygiene and circadian health to their workers. And, whenever possible, firms should establish shifts that respect biological rhythms.

                                             Non-standard working hours, along with sedentary jobs, are two of the most significant threats to sleep health                                                                                                      Westend61 (Getty Images)

Sedentary work and insomnia

On the other hand, according to the study, sedentary work is linked to a 37% increase in insomnia symptoms among employees. “Millions of years of evolution have prepared us to be physically active and eat during the day — outside, when there’s light — and to look for a safe space to sleep and recover at night, when it’s dark. Sedentary work — especially if it’s done in spaces with little natural lighting and nothing reminiscent of nature — can break this pattern for which our body is prepared. Therefore, this can have a negative impact on night time rest,” argues Manuel de Entrambasaguas, a neurophysiologist at the Hospital Clínico de Valencia.

María José Martínez Madrid agrees, emphasizing that physical activity contributes to regulating the circadian system and favors the accumulation of sleep pressure throughout the day. Prolonged sedentary work, on the other hand, can reduce this pressure and, therefore, make it difficult to fall asleep. “Furthermore, the lack of exposure to natural light — which is common in sedentary office jobs — can alter the secretion of melatonin and the feeling of nighttime sleepiness,” she warns.

“A sedentary lifestyle makes us sick,” adds De Entrambasaguas, who points out that, frequently, after a long day — in which we’ve spent a lot of time sitting — a feeling of tiredness is overwhelming: “We’re looking forward to getting home to lie down on the sofa. But this is a bad, sick tiredness: the result of a lack of activity. It’s a very different feeling from the good tiredness we feel after doing sports, or having been active by walking or hiking, when we also generate endorphins.”

For this reason, the expert considers it essential to maintain minimum levels of activity at work, taking advantage of any opportunity to exercise. This recommendation is seconded by Martínez Madrid, who highlights the need to increase physical activity during the day, to expose oneself to natural light (especially in the mornings), to go to and from work by bike or on foot — when possible — and to take active breaks during the workday: “Getting up and moving for at least five minutes every hour can mitigate the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.”

Stress and 24-hour jobs

Crammed schedules and sedentary lifestyles aren’t the only ways in which work can affect night time rest. Daniel Madero, 42, has been working in Valencia for almost 20 years in a multinational technology company. He points out that, from the start, work affected his sleep, especially because of travel. However, this impact increased as he took on more responsibilities, had more people to supervise and was responsible for managing more complex projects with bigger clients.

This, he points out, has generated three situations that have directly affected his rest: “On the one hand, there are the marathon days, during which I’ve had to stay at the office until three in the morning solving a client’s problem. Then, I have to come back at nine. On the other hand, there’s stress and tension, all those problems that you have in your head, which make you go to bed with anxiety. Because of that, it’s impossible to fall asleep. And, finally, I have very restless sleep, with nightmares related to the problems I have at work,” he sighs.

“You end up building up so much stress, so much pressure, that you end up developing such a great panic about your job that it’s difficult for you to get up in the morning to face the day,” Madero laments.

According to a study published this past January, work stress — in the medium and long-term — is related to a notable increase in sleep disorders. Another study from 2023 also associated high-tension work with professionals who have short, unsatisfactory, inefficient and irregular sleep.

“Work stress causes hyperactivation of the mind. As a result, we spend the entire workday thinking about work problems, either for specific reasons, or as a discomfort or background noise. These thoughts — plus the unpleasant emotions and physical sensations that sometimes accompany them — can persist and even amplify in the stillness of the night,” Manuel de Entrambasaguas explains.

According to the neurophysiologist, this is combined with one of the characteristics of today’s societies: hyperconnectivity. This often leads to the “abusive invasion” of personal rest time, due to instant messages or work-related emails, which can promote the “hyperactivation of the mind, which is typical of insomnia.” Meanwhile, sitting in front of the computer at night to finish pending work tasks — in front of inadequate light sources — leads to insufficient sleep.

According to De Entrambasaguas, work stress and sleep have a bidirectional relationship, which can lead employees to fall into a kind of vicious circle. Stress at work — as scientific evidence shows — can cause a deterioration in sleep. And, in turn, the lack of restful sleep negatively affects our functioning the next day and can negatively interfere with the psychological mechanisms that allow us to solve tasks or problems. This generates stress at work, and — once again — non-restorative sleep. Ultimately, according to the results of a study published in 2019, this can have harmful implications for cardiovascular health. The combination of work stress and a lack of sleep increases the risk of coronary and cardiovascular mortality in workers with hypertension.

As the neurophysiologist notes, the available scientific evidence reliably links poor or insufficient sleep with a higher risk of accidents, absenteeism and presenteeism at work, comorbidity with other physical and mental illnesses, lower productivity, less creativity and worse relationships with colleagues and clients. “Based on this evidence,” he concludes, “it seems clear that taking care of sleep benefits everyone… both employers and employees.”

https://english.elpais.com/health/2025-03-09/late-shifts-sedentary-lifestyles-hyperconnectivity-stress-how-work-robs-us-of-sleep.html 

How workplace bullying affects your and your partner’s wellbeing

From freemalaysiatoday.com

Distressing events at work can impact the affected person’s quality of sleep – and potentially that of those around them 

From stress and insomnia to loneliness and low morale, workplace bullying doesn’t just affect the physical and mental health of those exposed to it – it also invades their personal spheres. A British study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence reveals that workplace bullying disrupts victims’ sleep, with direct repercussions on their partners.

Researchers from the University of East Anglia studied the short-term impact of workplace bullying on several sleep indicators, including difficulty falling asleep, nighttime wakings and overall dissatisfaction with sleep. They observed two distinct groups: 147 employees monitored over five days; and 139 couples analysed over two months.

Their conclusions are clear: when employees are victims of bullying, they tend to think back over the conflictual situations they have experienced, trying to analyse and justify them. This incessant rumination, which seeks to help them make sense of what they’ve been through, only adds to their stress and compromises the quality of their sleep.

Employers have a role to play in establishing healthy corporate cultures and actively combating toxic behaviour. (Envato Elements pic)

“When individuals experience bullying at work, they may engage in rumination as a way to mentally process and attempt to cope with the negative events. However, this repeated thinking can lead to problems such as difficulties in falling and staying asleep, affecting sleep impact and satisfaction,” lead author Ana Sanz-Vergel explained.

And these sleep problems don’t stop with the victim – they also affect people’s other halves. Interrupted sleep, nocturnal awakenings and persistent feelings of tiredness can spread between the couple, creating a climate of shared tension and fatigue.

Repeatedly thinking about distressing events at work could lead to sleep difficulties, experts warn. (Envato Elements pic)

So, what can be done to combat this? The experts recommend both organisational and individual interventions.

For employers, it’s a matter of establishing a healthy corporate culture and actively combating toxic behaviour. For individuals, learning to disconnect from work outside office hours is an effective strategy for limiting rumination and, by extension, disturbed sleep.

Another avenue is preventive programmes for couples to help partners better manage the psychological consequences of workplace bullying. “This could help provide coping strategies to both members of the couple, which would in turn reduce rumination levels and insomnia,” Sanz-Vergel noted.

This study is a reminder that workplace bullying doesn’t stop at the company gates: it infiltrates the personal sphere and undermines individuals’ wellbeing. As such, it seems that preserving the mental health of employees can also help protect that of those around them.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2025/03/02/how-workplace-bullying-affects-your-and-your-partners-wellbeing/