August 2017

There’s more to life than work

“I want to live more!” my friend said at a lunch restaurant, scrolling though her work calendar with an agonized look on her face. Work filled her days, making all the fun disappear.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Even Jack Nicholson’s character in The Shining, one of the scariest movies of all time, knew it. Don’t let yourself end up like Jack – make the decision to give yourself enough rest. Remember to write down free time in your calendar before you start filling it with your responsibilities.

To some of us, our smartphone has become the most important tool at work, causing pressure to be available at any hour. The most stressed out workers are the ones with the highest and the most undefined goals. It can be a challenge to take your mind off work.

Smart employees can be motivated with reasonable working hours. If an employer wants to take full advantage of their worker’s brain capacity they don’t arrange late meetings or send work related messages to their employees at night.

Stretched out workdays do not correspond to better results for the employee or the organization they work for. A sleep-deprived brain is not the best at coming up with new ideas. Creativity needs space. To demonstrate, you can try to remember a time when you overworked yourself.

At some point you lost your playfulness, you didn’t laugh as often. One day you suddenly remembered the saying about beating a dead horse. Your dream vacation consisted of uninterrupted rest. At your worst moments you fantasized about accidents that took you to the hospital for weeks, and kind nurses who would bring you food and change the sheets in your bed.

The only cure for feeling like this is to take control. If your boss does not set you boundaries, you need to take leadership of your own use of time. While learning to manage your time in a new way, you might feel guilty for having empty spaces in your calendar.

Taking on a new perspective might help. Getting enough rest makes you a better and more productive employee, and you’ll also be more fun to work with! Who doesn’t want to work with a positive person who has more to life than work?

Does your back hurt?

Have you seen the doctor or taken time off from work because of back pain? Are you wondering if a good massage might help you get through the days?

You are not the only one.

One in eight people in Finland suffer from back pain every day. One in three adults reports experiencing back pain during the past month.

There are many possible causes to back pain. As much as 90% of cases remain undefined, meaning the doctors have not been able to define a specific reason for the pain suffered. As little as 5-10% of back pain is caused by a specific illness or a problem in nerve roots.

It is known that obesity, stress, smoking and insufficient exercise are best friends with back pain, but it can also be connected to discontent at the workplace. It is also a common reason for sick leave.

It used to be thought a person suffering from back pain should lay down and rest as much as possible, but today we know immobility can make the symptoms worse. A back that hurts is not a useless back.

When suffering from back pain it is recommended you return to your daily tasks as soon as possible. Exercise has been proven to speed up recovery, and thus the treatment for back pain is no longer based on medication.

It is recommended to take up light exercise, such as walking, as soon as your condition allows it, even during your sick leave. The point is not to exercise heavily when undergoing acute back pain, but every day motion such as taking the stairs and walking the dog can promote recovery.

Although in some cases back pain requires further examination and medical care, getting better fast is likely for most patients. Approximately 80% of patients have been able to return to work within a month after their first severe symptoms.

After the acute phase of back pain is over, the important part is to make sure it does not come back. The best way to prevent and manage symptoms is to stay in shape.