There’s no doubt that technology has simplified the way we carry out our day-to-day routines. Computers help us do things faster, emails and texts allow us to always be in touch, and the internet makes it easy to find answers to any questions. While it’s nice to always be plugged in, it means that we never really clock out. While it’s one thing to pull a long day every once in a while, it’s another to routinely stay late at work. When you overwork yourself, your health and happiness can be negatively impacted. The failure to prioritize a healthy balance is bad for both employees and employers. Read on to learn exactly how your health and career are affected when you overwork yourself. 

It prevents sleep

Working too much or too late in the day can negatively impact your sleep. Avoiding sleep can cause us to build up “sleep debt.” Essentially, it feels like your energy is overdrawn for days at a time until you get a proper eight hours of sleep. This can raise the risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. 

More input doesn’t mean more output

Working longer hours doesn’t necessarily mean that more work is getting done. It can from time to time, but not when overtime becomes constant. By the end of an 8 hour day, your best work tends to be behind you. By hour nine, fatigue begins to set in and productivity levels drop. You won’t be able to deliver your full potential. This is especially true if you aren’t invigorated by something such as a critical deadline. You will just leave yourself exhausted. 

You’re more likely to make mistakes

Overwork results in stress and exhaustion. This can make it far more difficult for you to do everything in your day-to-day life. You won’t be able to communicate as effectively, your judgment calls will be off, and managing your own emotions will be difficult. Also, depending on the environment you work in, this can ultimately lead to injuries at work. 

You lose sight of the bigger picture

Have you ever worked on a project so long that you began to obsess over it and forget about everything else related to your role or personal life? Many have been there. The breaks we take to recharge, eat meals, or spend time with the people we love help us step back from our work and stay mindful of how our work contributes to our goals.

Overworking hinders creativity

As a marketer, you’re sought after for your creative ideas, messaging, and content. But, this type of work takes a lot of time, energy, and open-mindedness. Unfortunately, lack of sleep and stress caused when you overwork yourself can drain your energy, motivation, and your level of creativity. If you want to stay fresh and creative, it’s important to limit your work hours, get a good night’s sleep, and take time off when you feel like your mind is being drained of creative thoughts.

Multitasking is harder

As we mentioned above, when you overwork yourself it raises the risk of making silly mistakes. This risk gets even higher when you’re working on multiple projects all at once. Each day, you might send out an email, update social media, write a blog post, and monitor the analytics of what you’re doing. When you’re tired and not ready to pay attention to detail, it will be harder to complete all of your tasks correctly.