Staying Healthy When Working 12 Hours a Day?

dwija asks: "I just got a new job where I just sit in one place all day and work for 12 hours at a stretch. This goes on for 4 days a week and I get 3 days off. The journey to and from my office takes up about 3 hours of my day. I am a little worried now cause i am becoming really weak and I am not as healthy as I used to be. I want to ask others on Slashdot about the kinds of weird times in which they work and what they do to take care of their health and stress."

Comments

Avoid caffeine & carbs

[Spamsonite]

I'm working 7-days a week, 14 hours a day doing IT for the world's largest rodeo in Houston. Like you, I drive approximately 3 hours a day to and from work.

Even though both caffeine and carbs provide a short-term energy boost, I find that avoiding them completely makes me much more alert and energetic overall. The crash when the caffeine or insulin levels swing knocks me out cold.

Unlike you, my job has me running all day long, so I don't usually run into trouble until the drive home. If I've kept an even blood-sugar all day, I'm usually just fine. On days when I've had to grab a burger (or worse) for lunch, I sometimes have to stop on the side of the road and catch a short nap to stay safe. Sleeping on the side of the road, even in a well-lit rest stop, is a health risk in it's own right...

Quit your job

[anpe]

There's nothing that justifies the fact you'll give away your health for money.
Move to another city, state or country. Don't put yourself any artificial constraint. There are lots of places on earth where you'll get a decent life. Move.

Quit

[Darth_Burrito]

I used to work at a death march job. 60 hour work weeks. Lousy environment. Lots of stress. No appreciation. I was miserable and my health was probably not what it could have been. Within a few months of quiting, I felt great. Apparently I also looked a lot better because everyone I ran into kept asking questions like... Have you lost weight? You been going to the gym? Of course I hadn't been anywhere near a gym and I weighed the same as the day I quit, but leaving that horrible place made a huge difference that was visible to everyone around me.

If you're unhappy or unhealthy, and if you can't make it so you are happy and healthy (by juggling schedules or whatever), then quit. Life's too short.

Use "Lunch." DON'T SIT THERE (for too long)

[QuietRiot]

Prepare lunch for the next day before you go to sleep. Put in in the fridge.

Jog for 5 minues at soon as you get up and before your shower. Even if it's just around the block. Wake. Throw on shorts (or sweats if it's cold), some old socks (why dirty a new pair?), and a sweater. Go outside and run around the block or down to the corner and back. Then shower and have a good healthy (it can be quick!) breakfast. Bring the CD-R you prepared the night before with an automatic script full of the latest podcasts, TTS news, or random selection from your audio collection - hop in the car and drive. Pick up a friend, coworker, or slug on the way if you can.

Go for a jog around the building when you get to work (after your drive) and before you leave. It can be quick. They'll laugh but you're not the one with the weak legs for weekend activities!

Make good use of your lunch break. Have a sandwich while climbing the stairs to the top of your building.

Promise yourself 20 crunches and 50 pushups before the day is over (how long does it take to do 10 pushups and don't tell me you can't take 5 short breaks over 12 hours...). Set a timer.

Find some pipes in the utility closet and do 5 pullups a day for 2 months. Each month after add 2 more. Do these on a piss break.

Eat Fruit. No heavy lunches. Bring yogurt (if you're into that kind of thing - cold plain vanilla w/ sugar sprinkled on top - delish!) Eat nuts (yes - something _other_ than peanuts).

Do at least an hour or two of non-staring_at_the_computer_screen work if you can help it. Plan. Use a notepad and pencil. Make calls. Write a letter to your congressman or old friend or mother or grandparent or serviceman.

10 jumping jacks every 71 minutes. Set a timer.

Go see Jane or Mark on the other side of the building to say hi - find an excuse. Take a walk to the next building or volunteer to take things to the post box. Be back in a timely fashion.

Keep a bottle of water nearby, fill it religiously and get yourself lots of piss breaks. WATER IS GOOD FOR YOU. PASS IT THROUGH. EXERCISE THOSE NEPHRONS. Get a Brita (a BIG one) for your desk or buy those large 2 1/2 gallon jugs at the supermarket. (Spring over distilled - you lose the minerals with distilled). Water will keep you from feelingl like crap from sitting there all day, force you to get up, and keep you hydrated for all the running and stair-climing you're doing. Water is your body's oil. ESPECIALLY if you drink coffee - drink lots of water. Keep ahead of the diuretic effects. See if you can down a quart and a half of plain water three times a day (sure. go it all at once -- no pussy footin' around. Chug it!)

Take your vitamins.

Find some guys to play pickup basketball or ultimate.

Ask your boss about taking an hour to go to the gym. Give him a guilt trip about your health. Or go at lunch after eating at your desk @ 11a and having an apple and nuts when you get back. You'll probably be more productive if you actually have a chance to get up and be active.

Find a stretch regimen and commit to doing it twice a day.

Park your car not at home but down the street next to a well-lit bike rack. Ride there, drive to work. Drive back, ride home.

Have lots of sex on your 3 days off!

Investment Banking

[nelsonal]

I work in finance where probably everyone in the industry knows full well that top bankers get paid in the 7 figures. This compensation is partly because there aren't many bankers who continue to maintain the lifestyle required to be a top performing banker for very many years. A similar case would be oil field workers (who work long hours with few prequisites other than the capacity to work very hard for a lot of hours in good oil years) but humans cannot work 40 years in these fields. The smart ones save enough to retire young or fund a different career, the dumb ones blow the cash on drugs, sex, and fun and while they have some really cool stories are completely burned out at around 40. If you are not saving enough in your current job to successfully transition into something else in 10-20 years leave now.

Re:Excersize at work

[Xner]

Elevators are for the weak/injured, people with large packages, skyscraper-dwellers, and people who hate themselves. People who take elevators down are especially suspect in their common sense; there's a reason they're called "elevators" (or "lifts"), people.

Walking stairs downwards is actually a lot heavier on the knees than walkign them upwards, especially if you have a pre-existing condition (sports injury) or are overweight (larger forces on the joints). I'd therefore tend to reccomend that people that are hopelessly out of shape start out by taking the stairs when going up, and the lift when goign down.