it might be the fumes you’re inhaling while pumping gas that make you angry. Amal Kinawy of Cairo University found that rats exposed to gasoline fumes were more aggressive than those breathing clean air and more likely to show signs of anxiety. What’s more, their brains experienced changes in neurotransmitters in the hypothalamus, hippocampus and cerebellum. Although Kinaway limited her research to rats, she says the findings could apply to humans and be a factor in road rage.
The word 'Sustainable' most often is used to refer to resource utilization such as sustainable farming practices that preserve soil health. However the word itself refers to patterns which sustain life over the long term. Sustainable farming practices sustain an ecosystem over the long term, etc. But what about our day-to-day lives can also be made sustainable as well?
In my day job my coworkers and myself have recently undergone a period of extreme overwork. The product being developed has a huge feature list, there is a lot to accomplish in order to achieve the envisioned goals and there is very little time to reach the goal. This of course meant the team routinely worked overtime often 80 more hours a week.
This sort of scenario happens in businesses around the world all the time. The bosses of the world seem to have worked out ways to motivate employees to work long hours. What inspires me write at this moment is the unhealthy condition this creates in employees and the employers responsibility.
It's widely known that working long hours is unhealthy. A lot depends on the sort of work being performed, as long hours in front of a computer doesn't create the same bodily stress as long hours threshing grain in a field.
The Center for Disease Control publishes Work Schedules: Shift Work and Long Work Hours , an overview of studies regarding long work hours, working at night, and shift work. It refers to greater degree of accidents and other health issues.
The impact of overtime and long work hours on occupational injuries and illnesses: new evidence from the United StatesResults: After adjusting for those factors, working in jobs with overtime schedules was associated with a 61% higher injury hazard rate compared to jobs without overtime. Working at least 12 hours per day was associated with a 37% increased hazard rate and working at least 60 hours per week was associated with a 23% increased hazard rate. A strong dose-response effect was observed, with the injury rate (per 100 accumulated worker-years in a particular schedule) increasing in correspondence to the number of hours per day (or per week) in the workers' customary schedule.
This article in the International Game Developers Association website is especially appropriate: Why Crunch Mode Doesn't Work: 6 LessonsMore than a century of studies show that long-term useful worker output is maximized near a five-day, 40-hour workweek. Productivity drops immediately upon starting overtime and continues to drop until, at approximately eight 60-hour weeks, the total work done is the same as what would have been done in eight 40-hour weeks. In the short term, working over 21 hours continuously is equivalent to being legally drunk. Longer periods of continuous work drastically reduce cognitive function and increase the chance of catastrophic error. In both the short- and long-term, reducing sleep hours as little as one hour nightly can result in a severe decrease in cognitive ability, sometimes without workers perceiving the decrease.
In the game industry the bosses routinely force employees into crunch mode working the employees for long long long hours. But this article shows decades of research into the productivity available from a workforce based on the hours of work per week. Rested healthy employees are able to do more and able to perform more reliably than ones who are worn out and punchy from working long hours. Duh..
Working Long Hours: a Review of the EvidenceThe review of the research literature shows that long hours working, especially when coupled with sleep disruption, causes deterioration of task performance, because it has detrimental effects on such things as rates of error, pace of work and social behaviour....The review of the research literature shows clear grounds for concern about the adverse effect of long hours working and (the frequency of) health and safety incidents. However, most of this research focuses upon specific occupations (eg long distance lorry drivers, the medical professions), which precludes more general conclusions being drawn. ...The review of the research literature shows that there is little robust statistical evidence on the effects of long hours working on employee motivation, absence and turnover. However, self-reporting and organisational case studies suggest that long working hours has a negative effect on motivation, absence and turnover....
Why do employers regularly ask for long work hours? Great question. Perhaps they're all skinflinting scrooges who don't care about the negative effects on their employees. Who knows? Clearly this is a pattern which has existed for centuries if not more.
In the modern societies like the U.S.A. there are laws about work hours. These regulations vary from country to country but obviously there are ways the bosses have of getting around the laws.
One way is that in my profession nobody works on an hourly basis but instead on a salaried basis. Such workers are not subject to hour limits on their work time and can be subject to extra work.
Employers are in a position of leverage over their employees. Obviously the employer is in the position of providing money, and the money is what provides food and shelter. You can easily analyze this with the hierarchy of needs, with the first rung of the hierarchy being food and shelter. Basic survival of the employee, then, is dependent on receiving money from the employer. Hence this puts the employer in the position of providing the employees survival. THAT is a crucial role to play and even subtle threats on that flow of money can appear to the employee to be a threat to survival.
Can an employee effectively choose to keep their work life in healthy balance? This seems like a difficult thing to accomplish. For example some fields of work routinely have long shifts such as in medicine or fire fighters. If every employer in your chosen field of work insists on unhealthy work hours, what can you do?
What is the ideal arrangement of working, workers, employment, employers, and sustainable survival? I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.
Todays news has an article Another reason to get rid of the belly fat: Dementia which discusses recent research showing a connection between 'belly fat' and dementia. The article says the researchers don't understand the mechanism, but they've demonstrated there is a connection.
People with apple-shaped bodies are at greater risk of having too much visceral fat surrounding internal organs deep in the abdominal cavity....Researchers don't yet understand why visceral fat is particularly dangerous, but the fat is metabolically active and doctors think it may release toxins associated with atherosclerosis or plaque build-up in the brain that is apparent in people with Alzheimer's disease...
Recently my Chiropractor suggested I try a multi-level marketed food made from Chocolate that is supposed to have great health benefits. I barely remember having read a couple articles the last couple years talking about newfound benefits of chocolate. It's surprising to hear of chocolate to be healthy, right? Well.. read on..
One key mentioned in the literature for this product is the difference between Cacao and normal Chocolate. Chocolate is produced from a fruit known as Cacao, with Chocolate being highly refined and usually with lots of added sugar and milk. Supposedly using a different process results in a food that's more closely related to pure Cacao and preserves a lot of health benefits. It's important to note this is not an endorsement of normal chocolate bars like Hershey's, because those food products are have lots of highly refined sugar, milk additives, fat content and more.
A critical look at the effects of cocoa on human health is a careful look at the studies written by a nutritionist. ...Given the fact that chocolate is an extremely energy dense food, responsible health-care professionals should be cautious about making such recommendations, try to maintain their objectivity and not give into their confirmation bias; regardless of how much they may ‘adore' chocolate...Although it is clear that consumption of dark chocolate may not raise serum cholesterol levels, raise blood pressure or induce LDL oxidation, whether or not it can favorably affect these biomarkers of cardiovascular disease remains to be seen. The studies that have revealed improvements in these markers have used significantly greater doses of dark chocolate than have those with disappointing outcomes. This would mean that theoretically, to obtain any significant cardioprotective effects from flavonoid-rich dark chocolate, you would need to be consuming at least 100 grams daily, which would result in an additional 530 Calories per day....Consequently, trying to consume large doses of dark chocolate in order to protect ones self against these diseases may be essentially cutting off one's nose to spite one's face, so to speak.... Hmmm... It's not clear whether he's talking about highly processed modern food science Chocolate, or whether he's talking about more natural unprocessed Cacao.
Dark Chocolate Has Health Benefits Not Seen in Other Varieties is an article on webmd.com discussing studies of 'Dark Chocolate' and health benefits. Dark chocolate has higher levels of Cacao content. Even so they too say ...But that's no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure -- if you've reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things....
It requires a bit of hunting to find a Cacao product, versus a normal Chocolate product. One source is the multi-level-marketed product my Chiropractor recommended, but I generally dislike that kind of product. I always think if it's such a great product then why aren't they selling it in normal stores?
Navitas Naturals offers a range of products based on pure Cacao. Benefits: Antioxidant flavonols, Scavenges free radicals, Boosts pleasure neurotransmitters, Vegan, Kosher, Raw, Organic. Macronutrients: Good Source of Fiber, Protein. Micronutrients: Magnesium, Sulfur, Calcium, Iron, Vitamin C. One of their products is 'Raw Cacao Nibs' which are very compatible with being mixed in coffee beans and ground into coffee.
The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom is a collection of passages from Henri Nouwen's journals, written during a period when his self-esteem evaporated, his energy to work disappeared, and God seemed entirely unreal. This is not a book to be read straight through: each short chapter takes time to digest, because, like the following passage, each of Nouwen's thoughts has the raw complexity of real honesty.
This book is a series of touching essays. Touching not in being a tear jerker, but in how deeply they reach into truth. The books title, A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom, is very right on with the subject of the essays. For example, Open yourself to the First Love discusses the divine love. The 'first love' is that which God is waiting to give you. In general the book points the reader in the direction of the transformative power of the divine.
...One average idea that’s been put into action is more valuable than a dozen brilliant ideas that you’re saving for “some other day” or the “right opportunity”.
...Use action to cure fear - Have you ever noticed that the most difficult part of public speaking is waiting for your turn to speak?
...Start your creative engine mechanically - One of the biggest misconceptions about creative work is that it can only be done when inspiration strikes.
...These distractions will cost you serious time if you don’t bypass them and get down to business immediately.
...Once people see you’re serious about getting things done they’ll want to join in. The people at the top don’t have anyone telling them what to do.
...In the latest study, scientists at the Moores Cancer Centre at the University of California, San Diego, estimate that 250,000 cases of colorectal cancer and 350,000 cases of breast cancer could be prevented worldwide by increasing the intake of vitamin D3.
...The study combined data from surveys of blood levels of vitamin D during winter from 15 countries, along with satellite measurements of sunshine and cloud cover.
...Dr Cedric Garland, the cancer prevention specialist who led the study, said: "This could be best achieved with a combination of diet, supplements and short intervals - ten or 15 minutes a day - in the sun."
