Study Shows Relaxing At Work Key

Stressed out at work? Maybe we should move to Italy.

A promising Italian study’s results were published this month in Cepalagia: An International Journal of Headache. Although the study centered on reducing headaches in the workplace, it also showed reduction in neck and shoulder pains, often caused by tension due to stress. Healthier workers can lead to more productive workers, less prone to calling off of work or making mistakes on the job due to pain. Just by taking a few minutes every two or three hours to stretch or use a heating pad gave dramatic results.

The Nitty Gritty

The Italian study was done with the cooperation of 384 Turin office workers. 80% of them were women (what — don’t Italian men admit to getting bodily aches and pains from stress?). The study lasted eight months. At the end of eight months, 51% reported that they needed to take less painkillers in a work day — and they were still doing the same amount of work.

In the study, the office workers were asked to:

Do stretching or posture improving exercise every two or three hours
Keep a journal of their aches and pains
Take two ten or fifteen minutes breaks per work day where they could just sit in armchairs with heating pads on their necks, shoulders or cheeks

The study hopes this helps prove that workers do need to take regular breaks from their high-stress jobs in order to keep up their level of performance. Personally, I hope that things like power napping can happen not only to office workers, but workers of all kinds, including fry cooks, high school teachers and retail workers. The level of stress is incredibly high in these jobs compared to the small salaries they get.

Although it might seem at first glance to see that not moving for a while can help make you a better worker, it just makes sense. We all need breaks in order to get perspectives of our work in relation to our entire lives. Just this stepping back can take a load off — literally and metaphorically.

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