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Working Too Hard

One of the biggest problems when you work for yourself is finding time for yourself … and your family. There is so much to be done and so little time that every minute becomes precious, every second counts and any time that is wasted is lost money.

It becomes even more pressing when you work from home. The temptation to immerse yourself in work is irresistible. But that is the very last thing you should do.

It's fine for short bursts when important deadlines have to be met but as a long-term work strategy it's a killer that will creep up on you and overwhelm you before you even realize it.

Working long hours day after day can seriously affect your productivity. You might think you're achieving a lot and at first you will. But when you go for days on minimal sleep and with no other breaks your productivity will slip away to zero before you realize it. You will start making mistakes and you will waste time correcting them. And then there are the mistakes that you don't find …

Working long hours day after day will seriously affect your health. Sleep deprivation can very quickly damage normally healthy bodies. Some research has shown that after as little as 72 hours without sleep a human body can begin displaying clear symptoms of diabetes.

Your judgment will also become impaired and important decisions need a clear head, not one that is muzzy with lack of sleep.

Working long hours day after day will also affect the way you interact with other human beings. I can tell you from personal experience that days and weeks spent working by yourself in front of a computer screen can lead to real problems when you're faced with going out into the real world.

I know of people who have worked for years like that and now they have problems going as far as their letterbox. If I don't get out on a daily basis I start having problems with crowds and I can assure you that panic attacks are no fun.

Working long hours day after day will also take a terrible toll on your personal and family relationships. Your family needs you and they need you right now. They may not need you when you finally have time for them and finding that is a bitter pill to swallow.

Even if you and your significant other are involved in the work that you do, as we are, you still need to take time off together. You need to get out and enjoy the sun and the birds, the pleasant breeze and the fun that comes when you interact with real people.

How do I know you need to get out and about and just escape from work for a while? It's Sunday morning as I write this and we have just come back from a wonderful time. We stopped working about 9am and we went out.

We went down to the local tourist information centre and picked up some information on the local whale watching tours - in 18 months here we have not taken time to enjoy the biggest tourist attraction here in Hervey Bay.

From there we went shopping for a bookcase and ended up with a desk and a coffee table. We wandered through a department store and Toni bought some clothes and then we bought a couple of milkshakes and wandered along holding hands like we often do.

It was nothing special but it was so refreshing to get out and enjoy that time together without the emails pouring in and the instant messages popping up everywhere.

What are you going to do today just to get away from work for a while?

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