How Smoking Affects Your Productivity At Work

Nowadays, everyone person is looking for ways to become more efficient at their respective jobs. But, list making and consuming a large amount of caffeine is just not going to help you reach peak productivity levels.

Breaks are a must at work. They not only rejuvenate, but also help in social bonding. Nowadays "smoke breaks" are a causal scene. So what usually happens in smoke breaks? A brainstorming meeting about an idea, a discussion about work that needs to be completed and how to go about it. So how is this proving to be unproductive?

Even if you are discussing something productive over a smoke, the fumes are getting trapped in your lungs. The toxins build up with every puff. Eventually, this causes harmful health effects, negatively affecting your work. Let's see as to what are the butts' negative effects on work:

Increased Sick Leaves

A study conducted by Petter Lundborg, Ph.D, economist at Free University of Amsterdam showed that smokers, on an average, took approximately 11 sick leaves more than non-smokers. This not only builds up more work for you, but also further affects your health when you're fine enough to return to work.

This is because once you get back to office; you'll be overloaded with work. In such cases, people resort to a 'relapse to sickness'.

Loss to Employers

When you take sick leaves, your work is subjected to red tapism. At times, deadlines might not be met due to the sickness. You may not come up with the best ideas for a pitch due to your unhealthy state. Such factors cause a financial loss for employers.

Read More: The Disadvantages of Tobacco Smoking

Loss of Time

Smoking sessions do encourage employee-bonding without a doubt, but these ten-minute smoke breaks at work affect the efficiency of employees.

When a person wants to have a cigarette, he takes a colleague along and that hampers the other employee's output too. Also,the time taken to stroll from the workbench to the smoke zone, and the time taken to finish an entire cigarette is an ample amount of time. Many people end up gossiping than actually brainstorming on ideas.

Moreover, many discuss as to why their brand of cigarette is better than the others'. Well, this isn't going to help the company in anyway.

Secondhand Smoke Effects

Secondhand smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, including 70 known carcinogens (cancer-causing substances). Exposure to secondhand smoke has been linked to various health problems, including respiratory issues, heart disease, lung cancer, and other cancers.

Secondhand smoke can irritate the respiratory system, leading to symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and exacerbation of asthma in individuals with the condition.

Chronic exposure to secondhand smoke over time can have cumulative health effects, increasing the risk of developing serious health conditions later in life.

Decline in Physical Fitness

Smoking can impair lung function and cardiovascular health, leading to decreased stamina and physical endurance. This reduced fitness level may impact job performance, especially in physically demanding roles.

The presence of carbon monoxide and other harmful substances in cigarette smoke reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen efficiently. This can lead to decreased exercise tolerance, making it harder for smokers to engage in prolonged or strenuous physical activities. 

Smoking has been associated with changes in body composition, including increased abdominal fat deposition and decreased muscle mass. These changes can negatively affect overall physical fitness and health. Smoking weakens bones and connective tissues, increasing the risk of injuries such as fractures, sprains, and strains during physical activities.

Smoking Can Negatively Affect Company's Image

Yes, smoking can sometimes tarnish a company's image.Everyone knows that there are clients of all sorts and ideologies. Some strictly dislike the idea of smoking. Hence, when such clients view an employee smoking (coincidentally whom they need to meet), they form biased judgments.

These judgments also place the entire company in the dark light. Companies lose out on contracts and lucrative deals due to the 'smoking' factors.

Due to all such factors proving to be unproductive for employees as well as employers, several companies have taken varied approaches to tackle this situation up to a large extent.

Weyco, a healthcare company decided to introduce a ban on smoking for its staff. A few staff members were ready to resign.

Hence, companies have introduced smart approaches. For instance, Walmart decided to teach its employees about why is it beneficial to quit smoking and the pros of energy efficiency. Higher absenteeism is highly infectious- literally!

Here are some tips that will help you stick with your stop smoking commitment while at work:

• Be smart and live healthy - Don't fret about not being able to smoke. Replace the smoke break with something pleasant and positive like healthy snacking, a short walk, some stretches etc.
• Well if you are trying to quit, do not I repeat do not go and hang out outside with smokers while you are trying to quit smoking. You might just crave for a cigarette when you see people smoking.
• It's a good idea to organize a quit smoking group in the office to encourage people to stay clean. This way without hampering your productivity at work you can bond with your colleagues.
• At the month end, evaluate the amount of money you've saved from not buying cigarettes, and then delight yourself to a peaceful, smoke-free lunch.
• Be cautious of after work socializing as well, it might encourage smoking. Stick to the no-smoking zone if you plan to chill with your colleagues post work.

Read More: Tobacco Health Impact: A Day without Smoking

Once you have managed to kick the butt, you will definitely find yourself far more energetic even at your workplace. This renewed boost of energy will ensure that you manage to meet all your deadlines and impress your superiors at work far better too!