The average Brit gets just five hours solid sleep a night, starts dealing with work emails at 7.50am – and takes SIX out-of-hours calls after leaving the office each week, a study has found.
Researchers also discovered they clock up around two-and-a-half hours of unpaid overtime per week, and answer nine work-related emails on their commute home.
The typical worker also has to deal with 55 emails a day – and doesn’t finally get to ‘switch off’ until around 5.55pm.
Worryingly, the stats also showed workers are able to squeeze in a lunchbreak lasting just 25 minutes.
A whopping 74 per cent believe their busy lives are having an effect on their health and wellbeing, with four in ten admitting their hectic lifestyles leaves them feeling tired or low in energy, while 38 per cent reckon they suffer from stress as a result.
Others believe it leads to them struggling to sleep, being in a bad mood and being more prone to falling ill.
The survey was designed by new vitamin and supplement brand Nature’s Bounty polling 2,000 working adults across the UK between the ages of 20-40.
Paul Chamberlain, Head of Nutrition at www.naturesbounty.co.uk, said: “Our lives are becoming far busier than ever before as we juggle longer working hours and more stressful jobs with managing our personal lives as well.
“But this pressure is clearly having an effect on our health as people sleep fewer hours and work far longer than the traditional 9-5.
“Despite the stresses and strains you may face at work, and once you leave office, it’s important to take time for yourself in order to be able to cope with the demands of modern life.
“It’s clear that we need help to counter these symptoms.”
The subject of modern workloads proved a sore point for many of those who took part.
Forty-five per cent said they agreed we generally work harder than our predecessors and another 63 per cent said they felt their day-to-day tasks were more stressful than workers would have had to endure a couple of decades ago.
It also emerged more than one in four felt ‘stressed out’ at the end of the working day, while 16 per cent said they arrived home ‘worried’.
Almost half said getting home sparked feelings of relief.
But four out of ten admitted the reason they were so exhausted was because of the pressure they put on themselves, rather than external pressure.
However, one in four blamed their immediate line manager for piling on the pressure in terms of workloads and deadlines.
Worryingly, around 15 per cent felt their workload was ‘too much to cope with’, while six out of ten said they could ‘just about manage’.
Whilst probing the actual length of the typical modern working day, experts found around 15 per cent check their emails during their commute on three or more days of the week.
Researchers from OnePoll.com delved into how ‘Millennials’ are dealing with their busy day-to-day lives, with a third trying to prepare healthy snacks to keep them going.
And a quarter exercise early in the morning or late at night to allow them to squeeze in their fitness regime.
More than six in ten turn to supplements such as multivitamins, Omega3 and vitamin D to help them keep up with the demands of modern life.
But the research also found over a third of supplement users struggle to swallow pills and would prefer ‘more convenient formats’ .
Paul Chamberlain confirms: “We’re launching Nature’s Bounty in the UK market because we know that people are leading increasingly hectic lives and are struggling to eat as well or exercise as much as they’d like.
“We’ve colour coded our range to help people find products to support their health needs from Energy, Digestion, Relaxation to Immunity, Beauty and General Wellbeing.
“We’ve also launched an exclusive range of adult ‘gummie’ formats as our research shows many can’t swallow or have difficulty coping with some of the pills on the marketplace today.”
TOP TEN EFFECTS OF A BUSY LIFESTYLE ON OUR HEALTH:
1. Feeling tired or low in energy
2. Feeling stressed
3. A lack of sleep
4. A lack of exercise
5. Feeling low or being in a bad mood
6. A poor diet
7. More prone to falling ill
8. A lack of daylight
9. A loss of focus or concentration
10. A lack of fulfilment
