Having a job in the big city is great but not everyone can afford to live right smack in the heart of it. This means that we end up living further away from our workplaces.

However, did you know that shortage of sleep and commuting long hours will do extreme harm to your body – to the extent that it will actually kill you?

What?!

According to research, Malaysians have low lifespans as we are constantly stressed out and anxious due to traffic jams and sleep deprivation.

To make matters worse during this time of bad economy, people could care less if their workplaces are far from them, as long as they can earn and save more money.

So, with this kind of mindset, most people will not choose to live near our offices as most of us are located in high human traffic areas. Of course, properties in places with high volumes of people tend to cost more too.

And so, we would rather sacrifice our sleep for money that we could save. 

Image via The Star Online

People with a longer commuting time tend to be less healthier as it has been proven that we will have a higher BMI, waist circumference and blood pressure.

This will slowly cause the body to have serious illnesses such as heart attack, high blood pressure and many more.

With long hours of commute from work to home and vice versa, we also spend less time participating in exercise as we do not have the time to go to the gym or jog at the park. Well, except for those who memang lazy, lah.

Obviously, it will cause us to have lower levels of cardiovascular fitness.

Image via Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials

Long hours of commuting from home to work is a normal phenomena in Malaysia as many people would do this in order to get better opportunities in other companies regardless of any area it is in.

Besides, there are some people who live in Ipoh, Taiping, Kampar, will choose to work in big cities such as Kuala Lumpur or Penang, and some would even commute back and forth between home and the cities.

But things are different in Japan. It is a country with the highest lifespan!

The Japanese who work in major cities like Tokyo and Yokohama tend to live near their offices due to convenience. This reduces commuting hours which then helps in reducing stress as well.

No wonder the Japanese are so healthy and live so long. 

Image via The Ruby Ronin

Basically, long hours of commute will not benefit our bodies and will in fact do more harm to it than tolerable. It is important to take care of our health as we only live once (YOLO).

If you find yourself having high stress levels, perhaps you can find a job closer to home or move into somewhere closer to work.

Written by: Chan Suet Yee