From late-night meetings to 12-hour workdays, ever-increasing workloads to all-important performance reviews, there's no shortage of stresses that affect the lives of workers on a daily basis. And while some of these can actually be a good thing – prompting individuals to get tasks done that have deadlines – too many of them can wind up worsening productivity and contributing to pain.
In a poll of employees from approximately 4,500 leading companies throughout the world, about 6 in 10 stressed workers reported above-average productivity, according to a recent study conducted by Global Corporate Challenge, a workplace health and engagement services firm. This compared to 87 percent of non-stressed workers who felt like their productivity had risen over the same period of analysis.
The study noted that while some believe stress to be nothing more than an outflow of people's successes, diminished productivity would suggest otherwise. Additionally, the GCC report discovered that at least one-third of respondents felt like they were under more stress in recent years compared to when they first started working full-time.
"In an increasingly complex and demanding workplace, stress at work has become the modern back pain – commonly present, little understood, full of misconceptions and often unrecognized or talked about," said David Batman, GCC chief medical officer.
Glenn Riseley, founder and president of GCC, added that workplace stress "is an issue that is increasingly becoming a 'whole-body problem,'" evidenced by workers feeling pain in areas of the body typically associated with stress, like the back and neck.
Adjusting workstations may help reduce pains of stress
A possible solution to these pain problems may come through ergonomics, where workstations are adjusted so that they're more in line with putting as little physical strain on people's bodies. A separate poll found that more than three-quarters of small businesses do not provide advanced seating options in their offices, like stand-up desks or balance balls. Balance balls enable workers to sit in proper alignment so that their spines aren't stressed. Nearly 30 percent of workers said that they often sit for long stretches, averaging 60 minutes before getting up to walk around.
Sitting for long periods of time can be counterproductive to one's long-term health, studies have found. In fact, based on a study done by the Medical College of Wisconsin, it may be linked to heart disease risk. Heart disease is the leading health-related killer in the United States among both men and women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Reducing the amount of time you sit by even an hour or two a day could have a significant and positive impact on your future cardiovascular health," said Jacquelyn Kulinski, assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, The Independent reported.
Human resources experts say that business owners can set an example and enhance productivity by offering healthier workplace environments so that employees can lessen the effects of workplace stress on their physical well-being. They may also want to talk with their workers directly to come up with solutions for how to lower the mental stresses that so often lead to the physical type.
