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In a previous post we gave you five reasons to start a business and work from home. In fact, taking the plunge to embark on your own business is something we refer to a lot at EzyLearn, but for good reason — being happy.

Often we forget just how incredibly important this is, but if you’re not happy at work, it will impact your home life and your health.

Being happy at work is one of the reasons we’re so passionate about helping people start their own business through our online training courses.

Because if you’re like me and you spent time in the corporate world then you know how demanding it can be.

Office Politics and Long Days

It’s not just the pressure of completing your work within the designated timeframes, but it’s juggling that with the meetings and the office politics, and the bureaucracy and red tape that comes with working in the corporate world.

Then there are the long hours — the only place 9-to-5 seems to exist is in a Dolly Parton song.

Australians already work some of the longest hours in the developed world, putting in an average of 42.5 hours at the office a week (compared to many European countries that cap working hours at 38 hours per week), according to  think-tank, The Australia Institute.

Throw into the mix the fact we’re connected to the office virtually 24/7 thanks to email, smartphones and cloud software that means even when we’re not at the office, we’re still at the office. And it’s our health that’s paying the price.

Sleeplessness and Stress

A study conducted by The Australia Institute last year found that over one third of respondents had experienced high levels of stress and anxiety in the workplace as a result of long working hours; a further quarter of all respondents said that their working conditions had adversely affected their sleep.

Sleep deprivation, stress and anxiety are so intimately linked to the workplace that authorities have taken to referring to it as “presenteeism”, which is now so commonplace that in 2009 it was estimated to have cost the Australian economy $34.1 billion dollars, according to a study commissioned by insurance firm Medibank.

If you’re sleep deprived, stressed or anxious at work and your productivity is suffering as a result — in turn worsening your sleep deprivation, stress or anxiety — that’s presenteeism, and it currently costs the economy more than the days lost to absenteeism, which equated to a 2.1 percent decrease to the GDP in 2010.

The most common medical conditions associated with presenteeism include depression, hypertension and diabetes. Stress, anxiety and a lack of sleep has also been linked to cardiovascular disease, which is responsible for 37 percent of deaths in Australia and is currently this country’s leading cause of death, according to the UN.

Turn it to Your Own Advantage By Working for Yourself

But there is a silver lining. Although the almost inescapable emails, smartphones and cloud software mean work is always around us, the tide is now rolling the other way.

Emails, smartphones and cloud software also make it possible to leave the stress of the workplace behind and put the balance back in your work/life. These technologies are enabling people like you to service clients all around the globe. Perhaps you have some business ideas and concepts but need help fleshing them out and assessing their viability. Our Small Business Management course covers all the aspects you need when starting a business and our first subject focuses on originating and developing concepts.  So, there’s never been a better time to start a home-based business and turn that frown upside down.

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