6 WAYS YOUR OFFICE CUBICLE JOB MAY BE KILLING YOU! IS YOUR JOB SHORTENING YOUR LIFE?

Your alarm rings early – that dream of you on fantasy vacation somewhere suddenly ends and the rug gets pulled out from underneath and you are brought back into reality.  You have to dig deep down to somehow drag yourself out of the bed with puffy eyes, grogginess and the continuous lingering feeling of dread. It is the start of another repetitive week which was no different than the last. Welcome to Monday mornings and one of the most dreaded days in a life of an office cubicle worker.

If you thought dread was the only thing your cubicle job was doing to you, you might want to think again. Your cubicle job might be killing you slowly in ways you never even aware of and in this video, we will cover the top 5 ways your cubicle job might be killing you and shortening your life.

Number 1 – You are sitting down 9-10 hours a day. The human body is not designed to be sitting for that many hours a day. It is not good for your back, your stomach, and especially your heart when you sit for long periods of time without any movement. This is also not even considering your stress level at the job or what kind of heavy and greasy foods you might have had for lunch.

I could personally attest to this as I had gained 10 extra pounds when I had my first soul draining cubicle job. According to an article by Science Daily, those who did at least a half hour of more physical activities a day – such as walking, standing, doing house hold chores can reduce their cardiovascular disease risk by 24 percent.

I think it’s obvious that if you do have a cubicle job that requires you to sit in one place for long hours, its best to exercise more or find any excuse to move around to get your blood circulating.

Number 2 – Stress – Stress can be a killer especially if it is not managed well. Office cubicle workers should be familiar with the stress that comes with deadlines, spreadsheets, reports, emails, meetings, etc. The list of tasks and responsibilities can be endless and with your bosses breathing down your neck rushing you for deadlines, micro managing or putting pressure on you can really create some serious stress.

It is obvious to stay the higher the pay, the more stress and headaches that comes with it. Long term stress can cause various health issues such as hypertension and mental and emotional issues such as anxiety attacks, mental breakdowns, depression, etc.

 

Number 3 – The very air you breathe can be toxic if your office indoor air quality is not maintained properly. . If your office uses central air condition go ahead – check the inside grills of the ventilation shafts of the air condition. Chances are they will be coated with layers on top of layers of dust and god knows what else. That is because these air conditioning vents and filters barely have get cleaned or replaced so its possibly blowing back the dust and other contaminates circulating the very air you breathe for 9 to 10 hours a day. According to this article, here are 5 Health problems caused by a Dirty AC.

If you ever find yourself sneezing for no reason, you might want to question the quality of the air your breathing. I’m not even mentioning the pandemic even though now that can be a cause for concern too. You can consider getting yourself an air purifier to help filter harmful particles in the air which is what I do. I personally own both of these air purifier and it works great and worth the investment. 

Number 4 – Long subway commute – It’s bad enough for those who have a subway commute that occupies anywhere from 2 to 3 hours travel per work day and you are not even getting compensated for it even though it should be considered work hours in my opinion. What makes it worst is when your commuting to work in a crime ridden subway system such as New York City for example where robberies are up 72% and assaults 28% according to an article by NY Post.

Over packed trains and buses are a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria and especially now since we are still currently in a pandemic. Packed trains can cause stress, heighted tempers, and just plain miserable. 

This can all be resolved if these companies give you the option to work from home. If the pandemic was good for anything, it would be that working from home can be done efficiently. Not only will it save employees money, time, and safer than commuting but also saves companies money from having to pay the lease. Most modern companies are adapting work from home as something permanent as they understand that will probably the new way of working in the future. 

"A very packed subway entrance" by Jane Rahman is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Number 5 - Toxic and abusive work environment – I’ve personally been through this one myself unfortunately. It is worse than everything that I’ve already mentioned on this list is when you have a toxic and abusive work environment. Those of you who work in a cubicle office setting, I know you know what I am talking about.

I’m talking about gossiping, backstabbing, brown nosing colleagues. There are colleagues that click together and create a toxic environment filled with office politics. I’m talking about abusive trainers and abusive managers who literally talk to you with disrespect and are verbally abusive. I’m talking about favoritism, sexism, unfair treatment, and workload, lack of training and support, which all takes place behind the walls of an office environment.

This can affect mental health and depression. We have already seen what an unhealthy work life can lead to with Japan’s Karoshi which translates to overwork death and is a factor to the country’s high work related suicides. 

Number 6 – Wear and tear on the body – It might not be a tough like construction work and often gets overshadowed by its dangers because it is “white collar” work but cubicle work can take a toll on your body with wear and tear over time. Carpal Tunnel which can occur from the angle you use for the mouse and keyboard for long hours a day can lead to wrist, arm, and hand pain. Staring at a computer screen all day can take a toll on your eye health. As mentioned sitting down for a long period can increase risk of cardiovascular disease, lower back pain, weight gain, high cholesterol, belly fat, and the list just continues. 

I also personally use stress balls to try to help ease stress. 

Blue Light Glasses can help with eye strain from staring at a computer screen all day

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