Going to Work Is Good for You

There's no doubt that the always-on culture of many jobs since the popularization of the smartphone is major source of chronic fatigue and job burnout. But the fundamental problem isn't working, it's the need to have a meaningful occupation.

Jobs Create Our Identity

Jobs are an integral part of our daily lives. In many cases, even our names reflect our ancestors' jobs, whether it's an English Baker, an Italian Ferraro (blacksmith), or a German Reister (the guy who took care of the horses for the calvary). In many of the richer countries of the world where retirement is possible at age 60, age 55, or even earlier, many people continue to define themselves by their work. In a Gallup poll conducted in 2014, 55 percent of Americans reported that their jobs were very important to their self-identity, that number rising to 70 percent among college graduates. 

What's different about work in the modern world? Before the twentieth century, our identities determined our jobs. If you were born into a family of Bakers or Smiths or Farmers, chances were that you would perform the same jobs as your ancestors had before you. In the twenty-first century, however, it's more often the case that your job determines your identity, as people drift farther and farther away from their extended families.

Effects of Unemployment Go Beyond Financial Stress

Social scientists and public health researchers have documented the effects of not having any job at all in considerable detail. When people lose their jobs, they typically lose daily contact with many of their friends. They cease to be a part of the culture of their company or their skill group. They often don't have the money they need to keep up with health issues, and their ability to provide food and shelter for their families can become tenuous. Anxiety, depression, and stress-related conditions like high blood pressure become predictably common.

READ 10 Ways to Make Any Job Healthier

The more fortunate retirees don't experience financial stress when they retire, and are not appreciably more at risk for stress-related conditions like high blood pressure and insomnia. However, after about 10 years of retirement at any age, inactivity take a toll. Retired people and chronically unemployed people are:

• Less likely to be able to walk a mile (a little under 2 km) without resting.
• Less likely to be able to climb three flights of stairs without resting.
• Less likely to be able to bend over for daily personal hygiene activities like making up the bed, washing the face, and personal cleansing after using the toilet.
• Less likely to be able to bend down to put on socks and tie shoes. 
• Less likely to be able to carry a weight of 20 pounds (approximately 10 kg) or more.
• Less likely to be able make detailed movements with the fingers, for example, to peel an apple, or to use a screwdriver.

Even if your job consisted of sitting at a desk or behind a computer, not having a job usually results in deterioration of basic physical skills. And even if your job involved physical labor, for every year you continue working, your long-term risk of developing dementia decreases by 3 percent.

Work to Live, Not Just to Earn a Living

It's not just work that helps the elderly maintain their health. It's working at a job that has a purpose. But how can you recognize a job that fits your "calling," as well as generating the income you need to pay your bills?

The kind of job that makes a difference in your health is likely to have at least one, preferably more, of the following characteristics:

• It's not all about you. At least some aspect of your job should be transcendent, that is, there should be some way that you know that your job makes a difference for the greater public or the world at large. Any job can be transcendent. Researchers at the Sloan School of Management at MIT interviewed a garbage collector who reported that his "tipping point" occurred every day when he unloaded his truck into a recyclables plant. A priest reported his good feelings at being able to bring his church together to restore their sanctuary. A teacher spoke of her joy at seeing troubled students graduate.
• It's not all happiness. Meaningful work is poignant, not euphoric. There will be good times and bad times, but the bad times are just part of the story. Purely fun work is usually not meaningful. A manager who keeps her employees engaged, happy, and productive usually finds her job meaningful, but usually does not find her job easy.
• Meaningful jobs have their highs and lows. There will be moments of accomplishment when you might say "I feel like a rock star!" There can be long periods of tedium, that are endured because the highs feel so good.
• People who have meaningful jobs take a moment to reflect on completion of major tasks. A chef takes just a moment to admire the dish before it is served. A house painter looks at the completed wall or ceiling or fence. The aforementioned garbage collection looks in the rear view mirror at the clean streets.
• Meaningful jobs are personal. There's never a question that your work contributes to the success of the enterprise.

On the other hand, there are managers who can spoil meaningful work and its benefit for health. Here's how to recognize employment situations that won't contribute to your wellbeing.

• Meaningful jobs don't emphasize bottom-line profits at the expense of quality work.
• Meaningful jobs don't require employees to do things they consider counterproductive or just plain dumb.
• Meaningful jobs don't involve busy work. Your boss should give you something that makes sense to you to do.
• Meaningful jobs don't have inept managers. If you are constantly having to redo work because the instructions you were given were ill considered, you don't have a meaningful job.

READ Job Loss May Cause Long Lasting Depression

• Meaningful jobs don't take employees for granted. If you boss doesn't know your name or doesn't say hello every morning, you probably don't have a meaningful job.
• Meaningful jobs don't put employees at risk for physical or emotional harm. If your employers don't take reasonable precautions for safety and also protect your from emotionally unstable coworkers or customers with whom you have no latitude for action, you don't have a meaningful job.

Whatever healthy retirement is, it isn't a time just to sit around and watch TV. If you have the financial luxury of working where you are appreciated, choose meaningful work. It will extend your life, and give you quality of life.