What do you think about working overtime?
I have worked as a company employee in Japan for nearly ten years. In my view, overtime is sometimes unavoidable if it is necessary to achieve a goal. When I judged that I needed more time to finish my tasks, I would personally ask my manager for either early start hours or overtime.
But what happens when the work is already done, and yet overtime continues endlessly as if it were the norm? It goes beyond simply putting in extra hours—it inevitably brings about changes to both body and mind.
In this post, I would like to share my experiences of working overtime in a Japanese company: the workplace atmosphere, the mental and physical changes I went through, and the lessons I learned about the value of time and money. I hope this will give you an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of “overtime” from a new perspective.
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Overtime Memories That Stand Out
Here’s part of a conversation I had with Mr. K while we were working overtime on the same task.
●K: Oh, it’s already this late… By the way, what time was the last train again? Do you think it’s still running?
●Me: (Checking Google Maps) Yeah, it’s still there… in six hours. (Meaning the first train of the morning.)
At the time of this conversation, I had been working under such conditions for about two months: on weekdays, starting work at 8 or 9 in the morning and staying until the last train, and even working about one day on weekends. In reality, I did take the last train home, but with work that never seemed to end, I sometimes thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be better to just stay in the office, since even the time spent going back and forth feels like a waste?” For reference, in central Osaka, most last trains run around midnight.
Looking back now, it feels like a funny episode, but at the time I was really working like a zombie. It is an experience I would never want to go through again if I could avoid it.
What I Noticed in Companies with Frequent Overtime
I am a Korean who has lived in Osaka and worked for about ten years, during which I experienced four different companies. Please note that my personal experiences cannot represent all Japanese companies, as they are purely individual and subjective. In addition, I have also referred to stories from people around me.
1. Feeling Awkward About Leaving on Time
Even when I had finished all my work and wanted to go home, it was hard to leave if my colleagues or manager were still working. Sometimes I stayed at my desk, pretending to be busy for about 30 minutes, even though nothing urgent was left to do. Since I didn’t like that atmosphere, I made it a habit to ask my colleagues, “Is there anything I can help with?” before tidying up my desk and heading home.
2. Overtime = Diligence
Although it may only be some, there are still managers and companies that see working overtime as a sign of hard work and diligence. In reality, it could simply be that someone is inefficient and has no choice but to stay late to finish their tasks. In such a workplace atmosphere, I think employees may end up working overtime just to secure a salary raise or a promotion.
3. Imbalance in Workload Distribution
When I looked around the office long after regular working hours, it was always the same people staying behind for overtime, while those who regularly left on time were rarely still there. Surprisingly, this happened even within the same team. Of course, leaving on time is not a problem in itself, but it made me wonder whether the workload was being distributed fairly.
Changes After Overtime: Mental Changes
1. Arousal of the Brain
I had always been engaged in office work, which required me to use my mind extensively. Thoughts about work continued without pause, and even when I was utterly exhausted and wanted to fall asleep immediately, I often couldn’t because of all the distracting thoughts. When I finally managed to sleep and woke up in the morning, the thoughts I had before going to bed were still there. As these days repeated, chronic fatigue gradually accumulated.
2. Stress from Uncertainty
It is said that the brain feels significant stress when faced with uncertainty. I felt the same way—every morning on my way to work, I wondered, “What time will I finish today?” Many days passed when even after the official working hours, I still couldn’t leave. Since I never knew when I would be able to go home, I rarely made plans or appointments on weekday evenings.
3. Decline in Concentration
By the afternoon, my mind would become foggy and my concentration would drop sharply. Tasks that would normally take ten minutes sometimes dragged on for more than thirty. My brain kept working nonstop, but without sufficient rest, it felt overloaded.
4. Becoming Irritable
As I lost mental space and stress continued to build up, I became easily irritated over trivial things. I could even feel for myself that my personality was gradually becoming sharper and more irritable.
Changes After Overtime: Physical Changes
1. Outbreak of Shingles
Shingles occurs when the varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox in childhood, reactivates after lying dormant in the nerves. It produces rashes and severe pain, and while it is more common among older adults, it can also appear in younger people under conditions of extreme fatigue or stress.
In my case, although I was relatively young, I believe prolonged stress and exhaustion weakened my immune system, which led to the onset of shingles. Scientifically, it is also known that stress suppresses immune function and can trigger the reactivation of dormant viruses.
2. Lack of Exercise
Because I worked in an office job where I sat all day, I knew that exercise was especially important. However, on weekday evenings I never knew when work would end, so I always had to keep my schedule open. On weekday mornings or weekends, I was so fatigued that it was difficult to get up. As a result, my strength and stamina gradually declined, and due to lack of exercise, even my basic physical condition deteriorated to the point where office work itself felt exhausting.
Changes After Overtime: My View on Money
1. Decline in the Value of Money
When my income increased through overtime pay or promotions, instead of saving or investing in financial products, I often spent money to relieve stress—buying things I didn’t really need or indulging in luxury items that were more expensive than usual. With the thought, “Since I earn this much, it’s okay to spend this much,” my consumption rose in line with my income, driven by a sense of reward.
2. Myself Over Money
There was a time when I worked so much overtime that the overtime pay was almost like a bonus. Yet instead of feeling happy about the extra income, my first thought was, “Is this all I get for working that hard?” I felt empty and disheartened, as if my worth was being measured only by that amount of money. It was then that I realized I wanted to prioritize making myself happy rather than simply chasing money.
Changes After Overtime: My View on Time
1. Loss of My Own Life
I wanted to invest in self-development or fully enjoy my leisure time, but in reality, my life was just an endless cycle of “work–home–work–home.” It wasn’t only the lack of physical time; I was also mentally and physically drained, and I felt that unless I quit my job, it would be nearly impossible to have any free time for myself. I was supposed to be living for myself, yet during that period, I often wondered who I was really living for.
2. Loss of Opportunity Cost
As I mentioned earlier, if I had just a bit more mental and physical energy and could leave work on time, I could have spent that extra time investing in myself—whether it was running a blog or side business as I do now, or studying for certifications to prepare for the future. However, the reality was that I had no such freedom, and I was stuck in an environment where I could only rely on a one-time income—my monthly salary—to get by each month.
Lessons Learned from Overtime
Working long hours may temporarily increase your income or even earn you recognition and promotion from your boss or company. But as this continued, I gradually felt that I was no longer living a life for myself. At some point, I even found myself facing a more negative and depressed version of me.
Of course, I wasn’t working late every single night, but as an office worker, the mental stress often weighed heavily on me. Still, what I learned from my long periods of overtime in Japan was clear: once health is lost, it is difficult to regain; time that has passed can never be recovered; and the only person who can truly make me happy is myself.
My overtime experience made me reflect on whether my current life is truly one that brings me happiness. To all the office workers out there who are giving their best each day, I sincerely hope your days become a little happier.
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