November 2, 2009
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Nearly half of British workers say mid-morning on Tuesday is the moment when they feel most stressed at work, a study suggests.
The makers of the health supplement Bimuno polled 3,000 adults and found most workers coast through Monday getting their brain in gear and catching up with gossip from the weekend through social networking sites.
But everything comes to a head at 11:45 a.m.
"Traditionally, people associate Monday as the worst day of the week, but this doesn't seem to be the case -- coasting through Monday means we're worse off on Tuesday -- both in terms of workloads and stress levels," Graham Waters, CEO of Bimuno-maker Clasado, said in a statement.
He added that people lead such fast-paced lives that stress naturally runs side by side with this uneven pace, especially when it comes to work.
Tuesday at 11:45am seems to be the time in the day when the real workload for the week hits employees and as a result stress levels rise. The study also revealed Tuesday as the day when workers are most likely to work through their lunch break due to the realization they have a busy week ahead.
"Work-related stress can lead to time off work so it's important to make sure we're all protecting ourselves to help minimize sickness and days off work," Waters said.
More than 53 per cent of those polled admitted cruising through Monday and one in 10 said they further delayed their tasks for the week by logging onto Facebook to view photos from their weekend antics.
Almost one in five employees will leave the office late on a Tuesday as they work after hours to salvage their week after putting in a poor effort the day before.
Over half of Brits also said they regularly felt stressed at work with the average employee experiencing eight hours of mental or emotional strain during a typical week.
Worryingly, nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of people said they felt stressed every day. About the same number also blamed heavy workloads, and one in five said stress was simply part of their job.
More than one in 10 (12 per cent) admitted it was their boss who caused them tension in the office and nine percent blamed their colleagues.
Top nutritionist and food writer Fiona Hunter said that it was worrying that so many people are suffering from stress as it often leads to poor diet and can have a detrimental effect on your digestive system.
"Making sure you are eating the right foods, drinking enough water, and taking supplements that will help you boost immune system, will help to stop that run-down feeling when you're busy and over-worked," Hunter said.
(Reporting by Paul Casciato; editing by Patricia Reaney)
