Is it normal to work 12 hours a day? What happens to the body

“All the time thinking the same thought is impossible. It is very harmful! From this you can get bored and get sick,” – said a famous character in a Soviet cartoon and was absolutely right. The human psyche is a large system that has its own rhythms and cycles. If you do not take into account the peculiarities of its work, you can lose all your health – both physical and mental.

psychologist, specialist in integrative and applied psychology, founder of the “SPHERA” project

The human brain is able to work actively for about 4-6 hours during a day.

Sergey: The human brain is able to work actively only about 4-6 hours during a day. This is due to the metabolism of the body’s resources, which becomes much more active when performing complex cognitive activities. During the period of active hard work the brain spends about 25% of the resources of the whole organism, when in the mode of relative rest – only 9%. Our brain is quite “lazy” and is evolutionarily designed to conserve energy and survive, hence such limitations.

It turns out that in fact eight hours of working time consists of six net hours of active mental activity of the brain and two hours of rest. Not taking into account the lunch break. This is why the Labor Code makes such recommendations.

Is it normal to work 12 hours a day

You can long argue about why the working norm of eight hours a day is established. But here it is important to another – the degree of load and unloading of the body.

MD, pediatrician, nutritiologist, integrative medicine specialist

Time of work should be correlated with the “harmfulness” of the work: both physical (chemical waste, hazardous production) and psychological (teachers of elementary school). If a person who works in a relatively safe production, is not exposed to stress and has the opportunity to take breaks during the day, then working 12 hours a day will not harm him.

How working long hours affects the body

A person is not a perpetual motion machine, unfortunately, has the property to get tired, sad, be inefficient. Working in an unfriendly team, stressful environment and unfavorable conditions for health can be dangerous and at 6-7 working hours.

The brain needs rest, just like any system. Otherwise it leads to fatigue and loss of performance. That is why we have a need for a change of activity, due to which the work of neurons is switched to those that were not engaged earlier.

Disruption of the work of the psyche leads to unpleasant consequences that are difficult to compensate for with ordinary rest. Namely:

• fatigue (a natural decrease in the capabilities of the body and psyche);
• overwork (accumulation of fatigue due to violation of the balance of labor and rest);
• monotony (weakening of conscious control, deterioration of memory and attention);
• mental satiety (loss of interest in work, desire to change it);
• eating behavior problems;
• emotional instability and burnout;
• social maladaptation (impaired ability to adapt in the social environment);
• diseases of stress etiology (stomach ulcer, heart attack, nephrosclerosis, decreased immunity);
• depression, if you ignore the body’s signals for a long time and do not give it a rest.

Prolonged work has a negative impact not only on the psyche, but also on physiology. According to the doctor, 12 hours of sedentary work (with sedentary lifestyle) – a factor in the development of metabolic syndrome (obesity, diabetes) and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

Irina: Stress and excessive cortisol production have a devastating effect on the adrenal glands, cardiovascular system, and brain. Continuous prolonged exposure to stress increases the risk of cardiologic and neuropathologic diseases. Prolonged evening work also leads to insomnia. Active brain activity predominantly before falling asleep excites the nervous system and causes sleep abnormalities. Which, in turn, triggers the deactivation of the immune system and subsequent problems.

How to calculate your exercise tolerance

Sergei: It depends on individual characteristics and social environment. Therefore, some have a higher capacity for work than others. In any case, to calculate a personal norm of load, it is important to take into account the basic capabilities of the psyche and further search for your own favorable rhythm of work, based on self-observation and self-reflection. One should not forget about the need for proper nutrition, exercise, recovery, and quality sleep.