Burn the midnight oil, risk your health

Balancing work and free time isn't just about getting to have some fun, it's about staying healthy. A study in the June 2008 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine showed that working more than 40 hours a week was associated with a higher risk of anxiety and depression in both men and women. Men who worked 49 to 100 hours a week were at the greatest risk.

Veterinarians, watch out; most of you are toiling away after the practice doors close. About 80 percent of veterinarians work 41 hours or more per week, according the The State of the Veterinary Profession, a 2006 study by DVM Newsmagazine. And almost half of you are in the danger zone of working more than 49 hours per week. You're taking care of your team members better than you're taking care of yourselves. A 2007 Firstline study shows that more than 57 percent of team members work 40 hours a week or less and only about 6 percent work more than 49 hours a week.

Odds are, you and your team work overtime because you just don't have enough time during the day to finish everything that needs to get done. There is a solution-and a simple one at that: Take five after every appointment.

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