People who work at home are more likely to suffer insomnia, stress, depression
Working from home may be saving you commuting time, but it could also be causing insomnia, a new report says. Researchers say working outside of an office can make you more vulnerable to stress and depression as well.
Past studies have found that sleep deprivation leads to a higher mortality risk and lower productivity levels among the workforce. Now researchers are suggesting companies adopt new measures so employees can separate their work life from their personal life.
The report comes from the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO), which studied the impacts of working remotely as technological advances continue to revolutionize traditional conceptions of the workplace.
Researchers took data from 15 countries, including 10 EU members. They found that employees were more productive while outside of a conventional office.
However, the researchers noted it also brought risks of “longer working hours, higher work intensity and work-home interference.”
The report drew distinctions between employees who regularly work at home, highly mobile people constantly working in different locations and those who split time between an office and another site.
All three groups reported higher stress levels and more incidents of insomnia than those who always work at their employer’s premises. For example, 41 percent of highly mobile employees said they felt some degree of stress, a figure that was 25 percent for office workers.
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
1 Comments
Stress can affect us no matter where we are or what we do. How we deal with that stress is key. Mindfulness and meditation are very effective in reducing stress and stress related disorders. Many of my psychotherapy clients come to me with stress and anxiety issues. I highly recommend this Mastery over Stress mp3 by Jon Shore at this website to many of my clients: https://stress.lightunlimitedpublishing.com/. Just download it and listen to it while sitting in a chair. It works well for all for them and will probably work for you as well if you practice with it for at least a week. It is worth trying. It will teach you how to deal with stress and get rid of stress anywhere and anytime by taking a deep breath. Having a trigger you can use anytime is very important. Practicing every day is also important so that the trigger is available to you whenever you need it. It only takes 12 – 15 minutes to use each day.
We will review and take appropriate action.