We all know that our jobs can impact our health: from sleepless nights to skipped meals, your job can take it’s toll. But research shows us that the cumulative impacts of these offenses might be harming you more than you think. 

SHOW NOTES

Emily, a mom on the internet, said the quiet part out loud: admitting they daydream about being hospitalized—not because they want to be sick, but because it’s the only way they’d be “allowed” to rest without guilt. Another mom chimed in, saying her fondest memory of the year her third child was born was, bizarrely, the emergency appendectomy that forced her to let her husband give the baby formula, pawn off the toddlers, and finally sleep. It’s not the hospital gown that’s appealing—it’s the mandatory break, the absence of decision-making, and the fact that, for once, no one needs anything from you.

This kind of exhaustion isn’t just a mom problem—it’s a work problem, too. Work and health are in constant tug-of-war. When we sacrifice sleep to meet deadlines, skip meals to catch up, or forgo vacation because “the team needs us,” the cost isn’t just burnout; it’s actual, measurable harm to our well-being. Studies have shown that people who don’t take vacations die younger, those in high-stress, low-control jobs face skyrocketing rates of depression, and shift workers can experience full-blown health crises just from disrupted sleep.

But work isn’t inherently bad. Done well, it gives us purpose, community, pride, and even joy. The problem is when it tips into overwork, disconnection, and stress without relief. Research as far back as the 1930s and current research all point to the same thing: whether it’s unemployment or toxic employment, when we lose the ability to balance work with health, meaning, and community, we suffer.

And the kind of work we do can also impact our health:  miners; airline pilots, law enforcement – these are all jobs that even in the best of circumstances present challenges to taking care of our physical health.

The message here is be aware of how your work impacts your health and consider measures to mitigate those aspects negatively impacting health and emphasize those aspects that improve your health.