Is the Pressure to Always Do More Ruining Your Health?

In many workplaces, there is often unrelenting pressure to just do more. This can manifest as a demand to constantly increase output or as an expectation for 10 workers to perform work that used to be done by 15 or 20.

In a recent PwC global workforce survey with 56,000 respondents, 45 percent said their workload had significantly increased over the past 12 months. More than half felt there was too much change at their workplace happening too quickly.

This so-called hustle culture can lead to a phenomenon that cardiologists call “hurry sickness.” Its symptoms include behaviours and emotions such as impatience, chronic rushing, and a constant sense that time is scarce, which can all take a measurable toll on physical and mental well-being.

The stress and anxiety that come from always striving to do more can result in chronic headaches, insomnia, and high blood pressure—which is a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Research has proven that psychological distress alone increases the risk of death. The greater the distress, the higher the risk of death, even after adjusting for age and lifestyle factors.

Hurry sickness can also leave you exhausted as you constantly rush to keep up. It doesn’t allow time for regular breaks, healthy meals, or enough sleep. In turn, your immune system can become suppressed, making you much more susceptible to illness.

At work, the pressure to do more can have an extremely low point of diminishing returns. It results in poor decision-making and careless errors. In your rush to meet new targets or do more with less, you are less able to absorb new information and innovate.

Workplace relationships can suffer because people get irritated if others don’t keep up. When team dynamics falter, collaboration is compromised, and performance suffers. All this stress can cause exhaustion, negativity, underperformance, and finally full-blown burnout.

Hurry sickness can be hard to detect because it’s often dressed in terms such as efficiency, productivity, or achievement. Since these are benchmarks for success, you might not even realize something is wrong until burnout strikes.

7 Signs of Hurry Sickness

1. Everything feels urgent. You frequently feel restless or anxious because everything feels like it must be finished as quickly as possible.
2. You’re always in a rush. You walk, talk, carry out tasks, and even drive at a rapid pace. Everything is done in the spirit of frantic multitasking.
3. You always feel behind schedule. You worry about falling behind, even when you are ahead of deadlines, and others consider you highly productive.
4. You’re easily irritated. Even minor delays can trigger frustration, and you can lose your temper when something prevents you from completing a task quickly.
5. You prioritize productivity over your own well-being. You sacrifice sleep, meals, and time with family and constantly put work first.
6. You rarely take time to rest. You consider taking breaks a waste of time. Being unoccupied can make you anxious and irritable.
7. You get pleasure from getting things done. Pleasurable experiences trigger the release of dopamine, commonly known as the feel-good hormone. That hit of dopamine after a job well done can motivate you to keep up the relentless pace, regardless of risk.

5 Strategies to Overcome Hurry Sickness

Once you recognize the signs of hurry sickness, you can start to use these strategies to help overcome it and achieve a better work-life balance.

1. Set priorities. It’s helpful to schedule time each day to prioritize your to-do list so you’re not approaching every task with the same sense of urgency.

2. Pause before saying yes. Should you accept another task or request just because someone asks? Are you the only person who can do it? Will it take too much of your time, energy, or resources? Pause and consider all the consequences before saying yes. Writing down a list of pros and cons can be eye-opening.

3. Use a tool to help you prioritize. Assign each task to one of the following categories:

• Do tasks that are essential and have high priority.
• Defer (or delay) tasks that can be done a little later.
• Delegate tasks that you can hand off to someone else.
• Delete tasks that aren’t essential.

4. Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness allows you to slow down, calm racing thoughts, and be present in the moment. Practicing mindfulness for a few minutes at a time—through deep breathing, a simple body scan, or listening to calming music—can quickly lower stress and help you renew focus.

5. Seek support. If you find it difficult to manage hurry sickness on your own, consider seeking help from an employee wellness group, therapist, or support group. Accountability partners in the workplace can also help you keep up with new habits that restore calm to your life.

Remember, success is not measured by how fast you go—it’s about how well you use the time you have.

Source: hbr.com

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