Slow Your Pace

Slow Your Pace

Today’s quote is funny, but also sobering in light of studies of hard-working Americans. As it turns out, hard work could actually kill you. Well, it’s not actually the work that does it, but the amount of work and the time spent at it. The Japanese even have a word for it, karoshi, and it means “sudden death from overwork”!

Most of us consider a full time job to involve forty hours per week. However, for those in several professions, that number can be much higher. A University of California Irvine study of nearly 25,000 people revealed that workers who clocked more than 51 hours of work each week were 29% more likely to have high blood pressure than those who worked 39 hours or less. The likelihood of elevated blood pressure increases tandem to the number of hours worked.

Countless studies throughout the years show that what we have so endearingly termed the “rat race” seems to hold no great prize on the other side of the finish line. Sure, high blood pressure and other ailments can be easily treated with medication, but why go that route when you can simply slow down?

This is not to say that our jobs and careers aren’t important. But think about it: we can’t work if we’re in poor health because we’ve worked too much! We have to make the choice to spend less time in the rat race. Unless adding a “Top Rat” trophy to your shelves is your idea of success, slowing your pace in the rat race will be worth it in time.