TOKYO — Almost 90% of employees in Japan carry home thoughts about work-related matters from their workplace and feel stressed, a survey has found.
The private survey of 253 working people revealed 88.1% thought about work in their private time, with most expressing these are negative feelings such as concern and anxiety.
A representative of the survey commented, “The boundary between work and private life has become blurred, and many are exposed to ‘take-home emotional stress’ after work. This may lead to employees leaving their jobs and low morale, and has become a new issue for companies.”
‘Emotional labor’ no matter what kind of work
The online survey of people aged 20 to 68 who work at private businesses or in the public sector was conducted by wedding, promotion and work wellness services company Juno Inc., based in Yokohama, and Tokyo Seitoku University’s associate professor Daiki Sekiya.
Some 94.5% of respondents said they have an amount of “emotional labor” in their day-to-day jobs which involves controlling their demeanor and behavior required by the job, regardless of one’s physical condition or natural feelings toward customers, co-workers and superiors.
Among those who said they think about their jobs outside of work hours, being “concerned,” “worried,” “anxious” and “down spirited” were specific types of feelings selected by the majority.
Some of the topics that respondents said produced negative feelings when thinking about work after-hours were “unreasonable instruction or negative words or acts from supervisors,” hearing “grumblings or negative remarks” and “customer complaints.”
On the other hand, some positive take-home feelings included “chitchat and communication,” “cooperation and encouragement,” “appreciation and praise from colleagues and supervisors” and “appreciation from customers.”
‘Can’t get that voice out of my head’
To give a concrete example of take-home emotional stress, one man in his 20s from Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward who works at a convenience store recalled how a middle-aged man loudly scolded him for being “slow” to put items in a shopping bag.
“I was just trying to be careful not to make any mistakes. After that, I kept coming back to it. This was about a year ago, but when I get home, I can’t get that voice out of my head.” He added that he felt spineless over his inability to say anything back to the man.
Structural change also needed
Sekiya, who led the survey, pointed out that the man’s example is a textbook case of take-home emotional stress. “Although we tend to focus on stress measures during the working day, the survey results showed that stress caused by recall after work also has a strong impact,” he said. Sekiya also alluded to the way people who often think about the same things over and over tend to have a heightened stress response.
Also, the survey results indicate that negative communication in the workplace can also be recalled outside of working hours.
“The structure of communication at an organization matters. An environment in which anxiety and concerns can be discussed with colleagues and supervisors during working hours, and appropriate advice can be obtained, may alleviate some of the stress,” Sekiya commented.
Focus on enjoyable activities
What advice does Sekiya have for those concerned about take-home emotional stress? “Conscious self-care is an effective way to get out of thoughts that recur after the end of the workday,” he noted, adding that it’s important to actively pursue activities one enjoys, such as engaging in sports, dining with others and attending live concerts, not just tell oneself not to think about work.
If one can’t help but think about work no matter what they try, Sekiya advised, “Setting aside time to think about it can also help you to clear your mind.”
(Japanese original by Yuta Kumamoto, Digital News Group)
